Super Star Rajinikanth’s highly-anticipated live-action film LINGAA is estimated to have crossed through on-table business (pre-sales of all distribution rights and ancillary revenues) the entire business earnings of magnum opus ENTHIRAN, released in 2010, which remained an unbeatable record down south till date.
As per the Sun Network’s official report (Rajinikanth adds 30% to KalanithiMaran’s Sun TV Network revenue published on January 31, 2011 in The Economic Times), Enthiran earned a total revenue of Rs.179 crore for the Producer through the exploitation of various rights against the cost incurred of Rs.132 crore. However, this must not be confused with Endhiran’s combined business of ticket sales by the trade and the makers earned through various rights, which stands at a massive 375 crore. Enthiran was a high budget film lavishly made and shot over two years with the combination of Rajinikanth-Shankar-AishwaryaRai-AR Rahman.
Lingaa, directed by K.S. Ravikumar, with music by A.R. Rahman, starring Rajinikanth, Sonakshi Sinha, Anushka Shetty, Santhanam, JagapathiBabu and others was commenced only in May 2014 and is wrapped up in just six months, which is a record for any Rajini film in the last 10 years. The film is an absolute quickie and releasing on December 12, 2014 to coincide with Rajinikanth’s birthday. Lingaa is also the first film of Rajinikanth to release on his birthday in his dazzling, decades-long career.
Find below an illustration of Lingaa’s pre-release business estimated from TN theatrical rights for the Producer as per the bankable trade sources & our internal research
DETAILED BREAK-UP OF ESTIMATED WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS AND ANCILLARY REVENUES OF LINGAA:
Through TN Theatrical rights (as per the chart above) – Rs.67.2 crore
From Kerala theatrical rights – Rs.4.25 crore
From Karnataka theatrical rights – Rs.9.5 crore
Telugu version rights estimated – Rs.25 crore from theatrical + satellite
Hindi version rights estimated – Rs.10 crore from theatrical + satellite
Music rights for all three languages – Rs.8 crore
Overseas rights of Tamil version – Rs.25 crore
Satellite rights of Tamil version – Rs.32 crore
Total revenue earned from all 3 languages: Rs.180.95 crore | Enthiran Total Business Yielded by Sun Pictures: 179 crores
Lingaa, which is estimated to have cost Rs.120 crore (against Rs.132 crore incurred for Enthiran as confirmed by the Producer), has earned a total revenue of Rs.180.95 crore before its release as per the above estimated break-up of worldwide rights and ancillary revenues.
With Rs.180.95 crore brought in through pre-release businesses, Lingaa has earned the highest revenue for a Producer, much higher than the earnings of many of the high-budget Hindi films. The staggering pre-release numbers make Lingaa one of the Top 5 Indian films in terms of earnings in 2014.
Kudos to Super Star Rajinikanth for transcending barriers, breaking records and taking Tamil Cinema to the world and, enhancing its business reach and potential.
Now, Lingaa has to deliver this revenue for distributors who paid such steep prices to buy the rights, believing in Superstar and K.S. Ravikumar combination so that the film becomes a big boost to Kollywood and Indian cinema.
ENTHIRAN grossed Rs.62 crore box office earning from all versions in the first weekend and raked in a revenue of Rs.117 crore in the first week at box office, thus becoming the first Indian film to cross that mark in a week. Will LINGAA beat that record? Keeping our fingers crossed for December 12th and Only Kollywood wishes the team LINGAA a grand success.
Stay tuned to our page for exclusive box-office figures of Lingaa from December 13th.