Vijay's sports drama Bigil sails pass Rs 140 crore in Tamil Nadu; Karthi's Kaithi enters Rs 100 crore club

Vijay's Bigil  sailed past the Rs 140 crore mark in Tamil Nadu, trailing right behind SS Rajamouli's box office juggernaut Baahubali: The Conclusion, whose record is still unrivaled in the state. The Atlee directorial even supplanted the lifetime earnings of Ajith's Viswasam. Bigil, which also starred Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Daniel Balaji, Kathir, Yogi Babu, and Vivek, raked in an estimated distributor share of Rs 82 crore (excluding GST), an extraordinary run in Tamil Nadu. Despite two new releases Vishal-Tamannaah's Action and Vijay Sethupathi-led Sangathamizhan last Friday (15 November), Bigil earned a decent Rs 2.84 crore in the state, securing the third spot at the ticket window in its fourth weekend.[caption id="attachment_7645351" align="alignnone" width="825"]

Vijay in a still from Bigil. Image from YouTube[/caption]Vijay is now the first actor in the Tamil film industry to have three successive Rs 125 crore grossers in Tamil Nadu. Bigil is the top grossing film of 2019 in the state and worldwide, unseating this year's other blockbusters, Petta and Viswasam. The drama's new industry record has left the trade excited and distributors content owing to its massive pre-release sale numbers.In Chennai city alone, Bigil pulled in a total of Rs 13.24 crore in 24 days. It's now the third movie in 2019 to enter the Rs 13 crore club in Chennai after Petta and Viswasam. Bigil is Vijay's third consecutive project to touch the benchmark in the city after Mersal and Sarkar. Vijay is now the foremost actor in Kollywood to achieve this feat at Chennai city's box office."Bigil comfortably touched the break even mark in its fourth weekend for all the distributors involved in the project. It never slowed down, and the Diwali festival has turned out to be a lucky charm for Vijay. Initially, exhibitors were a little apprehensive since the project was sold at a high price, but the box office stamina of Vijay has put all doubts to rest. If Vijay works on reasonably budgeted films, it will make all the stakeholders in the trade," informed a Chennai-based distributor.Bigil is now inching towards the Rs 300 crore in worldwide theatrical sales and if the milestone is achieved, it will be another victory for Vijay. The film is now 2019's third top grossing Indian film overseas, behind Ayushmann Khurrana's Andhadhun, and Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff-starrer War. The film amassed a total of $12.9 million from foreign takings and surpassed a lot of records in several crucial markets. Bigil is the top grossing Tamil film in Malaysia, dethroning Rajinikanth's Kabali, and the second highest earning Indian film of all-time after Shah Rukh Khan's Dilwale.While Action topped the Tamil Nadu box office with a gross of Rs 5.81 crore, Sangathamizhan collected Rs 5 crore. Karthi's Kaithi entered the Rs 100 crore club, a first in his career. The Lokesh Kanagaraj- directed film touched the Rs 50 crore in the state, making it the second project for Karthi to achieve this goal.The massive success of Viswasam and Petta for Pongal, followed by Bigil and Kaithi for Diwali will definitely make other producers contemplate festival releases in the future.