Box office: Rajini's 'Kabali' overshadows Irrfan's 'Madaari'

Rajinikanth-starrer 'Kabali' smashes overseas records in opening weekend, including Sultan's; Hindi version pips Irrfan Khan's 'Madaari' at the box office

The box office last weekend was all about Rajinikanth-starrer 'Kabali' (Read Review), both in domestic and international markets. While the gangster drama did extraordinary business in the South, its Hindi dubbed version also caught the fancy of moviegoers in other parts of the country. In its opening weekend, it has managed to collect around Rs 2 crore more than Irrfan Khan's 'Madaari', Bollywood's solo offering that released alongside.

Photos: The Thalaiva is here! When Rajinikanth's 'Kabali' fever griped Mumbai

Rajinikanth in 'Kabali'

On day one, 'Madaari' witnessed less than 10 per cent occupancy for morning shows; the footfalls for 'Kabali' (Hindi) were almost double that. Early shows of the original version (Tamil) ran houseful in several parts of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Also read: Oh My Rajinikanth! These jokes on 'Kabali' will make you ROFL

Irrfan Khan in 'Madaari'

What's more, Rajini's magic took the overseas box office by storm, minting $13 million (Rs 87 crore) in three days flat. With this, it has overtaken Aamir Khan's 2013 action thriller 'Dhoom: 3' ($10.3 million or Rs 69.2 crore) to become the highest opening weekend grosser abroad.

Trade expert Taran Adarsh said, "The Tamil and Telugu versions of Kabali had an extraordinary opening in the international market. It was No.1 in Malaysia, No.3 in US-Canada and No.10 in UK box office. In India, it netted Rs 19.15 crore in all three languages — Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, with as many as 1,000 screens devoted to it in the north circuit."

Despite the rush for Rajini, 'Kabali' failed to shatter the opening weekend figures of another big-ticket South film, SS Rajamouli's 'Baahubali' whose Hindi version had done a three-day business of Rs 22.35 crore. Nevertheless, it posed a challenge to Irrfan's 'Madaari'.

Trade guru Amod Mehra said, "Although made on a modest budget, Madaari was promoted like any big film. However, it opened to average response. Critical acclaim as well as word of mouth buzz was not enough to make its investors happy."

Given a lukewarm response to Madaari, the audience instead chose to watch Salman Khan-starrer 'Sultan', which ended its third weekend run with a total collection of Rs 289.05 crore.

BO stats
Rs 9.2crore
'Madaari'

 Rs 11.5crore
'Kabali' (Hindi version)
(Opening weekend figures as per trade sources)

midday.