‘Ponniyin Selvan II’ Grosses $24 Million Worldwide, Salman Khan’s Film Falls Flat

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s historic epic saga Ponniyin Selvan II has garnered much appreciation from critics and audiences alike. Headlined by Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Shobhita Dhulipala and Trisha, the film has grossed $24.4 million worldwide in the first weekend of its release.

As per the latest Comscore report, it has earned $$3.64 million in the US markets alone, in the weekend ending April 30. Ponniyin Selvan II is the second part of Ratnam’s historic epic that first released last year to wide appreciation. Both films are based on Kalki’s books Ponniyin Selvan that narrate the story of the Chola kingdom in Indian region. The film features Rai as Nandini while Ravi features in the titular role of Arunmozhi Varman aka Ponniyin Selvan. Vikram plays the role of Nandini’s lover and Arunmozhi’s brother Aditha Karikalan. Ratnam’s film portrays powerful female characters, and the filmmaker has packed a thrilling narrative with beautiful frames and brilliant performers.

Meanwhile, Salman Khan has failed to set up any major show at the ticket windows. Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan released a week ago and has only managed to grab $19 million worldwide in the first seven days of its release. Given the wide release (across 4500 plus screens in India alone), the film Farhad Samji directorial has had a disappointing run at the box office. It could barely score $12 million in the Indian market.

Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan made an opening weekend collection of $929,844 in the US markets. Released across 4500 screens in India, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan is among the widest releases of Hindi cinema in recent times – at par with Yash Raj Film’s Pathaan that broke several box office records. Despite being the regular Khan release on the ocassion of Eid, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan was not able to score big enough for a Salman Khan film.

With a clear understanding of his audience and fan base, Khan has released most of his mega budget films around the festival of Eid over the past two decades. More often than not, the films capitalized on his fandom combined with festivities. However, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan collections have been among the lowest for his Eid releases since 2000. The only film that scored less than the latest one came out way back in 2010. Abhinav Kashyap’s Dabangg earned roughly $1.7 million nett in India. Ali Abbas Zafar’s 2019 film Bharat (featuring Katrina Kaif) has been Khan’s best opener till date with $5.3 million nett collections in India alone.

Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan has had an underwhelming performance at the ticket windows in the first week of its release in theatres on April 21. The film also stars Pooja Hegde, Venkatesh Daggubati, Bhumika Chawla and Bhagyashree.

As per producers of the film, Salman Khan Films, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan has made gross earnings of $18.2 million across the globe.