Lokesh Kanagaraj’s crime thriller Coolie, starring Rajinikanth in the lead role, has crossed the Rs 250 crore mark at the domestic box office. A jump over its second weekend helped the film achieve this feat. It earned Rs 10.74 crore on Sunday (day 11), a minor improvement on the Saturday (day 10) earnings of Rs 10.50 crore. Prior to that, Coolie had reached as low as Rs 5.85 crore on Friday (day 9). The native Tamil version still reserves the lion’s share of Coolie’s total domestic box office collection of Rs 256.75 crore after 11 days. It’s followed by the dubbed Hindi, Tamil, and Kannada versions respectively.
In the process, while Coolie has surpassed a past hit of Kanagaraj — Master (Rs 153.93 crore), starring Thalapathy Vijay, it’s yet to edge past the domestic box office collection of his 2022 directorial Vikram, starring Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi, and Fahadh Faasil, which earned Rs 289.43 crore. Coolie’s earnings have also been impacted by its ‘A’ (Adults Only) certification.
After the film’s release, Sun TV moved Madras High Court. In its appeal, the production firm said it had made Coolie to celebrate Rajinikanth’s completion of 50 years in the film industry, and the movie had become a “mega blockbuster” owing to its pan-India star-cast, comprising Nagarjuna Akkineni, Aamir Khan, and others. However, the actor’s wide fan base, cutting across all age groups, were unable to watch the movie because of the ‘A’ certification, it complained.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that Sun TV had refused to make the necessary cuts required for the issuance of a U/A certificate to Coolie, and instead accepted an ‘A’ certificate, thereby making it impermissible for viewers below 18 years of age to watch the movie in cinema theatres.
Opposing the request made on behalf of the production firm for an early hearing of their appeal filed before the High Court only on Tuesday , the lawyer said there was no dire urgency, such as a threat of eviction or demolition, in the present case, which would require the court to hear it on priority. He requested the court to grant time till August 25 for the CBFC to file a counter affidavit.
About 10 days after being issued an ‘A’ certificate, the appellant chose to release the movie in theatres, and a week after that, it had suddenly approached the High Court demanding U/A certification. It cannot insist upon an urgent hearing after such a long delay, the lawyer said. After hearing both sides, the judge said she would grant sufficient time for the CBFC to file its counter affidavit because nearly a week had gone past since the release of the movie.
Rajinikanth debuted with K Balachander’s Tamil movie Apoorva Raagangal, which released on August 15, 1975. The film also starred Kamal Haasan, Sunddarrajan, Srividya and Jayasudha. Crowds, mostly ardent fans of the star, swelled across cinema theatres to catch a glimpse of Rajinikanth in his new avatar of a coolie who takes on bad guys in his quintessential style in the Lokesh Kanagraj directorial.
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Coolie marks Rajinikanth’s first collaboration with Kanagaraj, the eccentric director behind hits such as Karthi’s Kaithi, Vijay’s Master and Leo, and Kamal Haasan’s Vikram. It features Rajinikanth in the titular role of a coolie who stands up to a corrupt syndicate that exploits and abuses his former colleagues in a port town.
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The star-studded cast also includes Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, and Sathyaraj, with Nagarjuna as the antagonist and Bollywood star Aamir Khan in a special appearance. Coolie is Rajinikanth’s 171st film as a lead actor. It released alongside Ayan Mukerji’s spy thriller War, starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR.
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