Rajinikanth’s fans may have to wait for just a few hours to catch the much-anticipated film Kaala which hits the theatres tomorrow, but they certainly have a reason to rejoice. If the pre-release business of the film is to go by, Kaala has already raked in big moolah. Going by a Hindustan Times report, the film’s pre-release business – which includes both theatrical and music rights – stands at Rs 230 crore. And Kaala would now need just Rs 280 crore to be called a hit.
However, the collection doesn’t take into consideration the Karnataka region, where the film’s fate continues to remain uncertain. While the film has already amassed Rs 70 crore in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Nizam have collected Rs 33 crore, Kerala comes next with Rs 10 crore and the rest of India with Rs 7 crore, the report states.
The overseas theatrical rights have been sold at Rs 45 crores, making it a Rs 155 crore total just for the theatrical rights exclusive of Karnataka. Then comes the broadcast rights and music rights, which is Rs 70 crore and Rs 5 crore respectively, reports Hindustan Times.
On Wednesday, actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to provide security at theatres that wished to screen the film. Kaala is facing opposition from pro-Kannada groups over Rajinikanth’s Cauvery remarks.
In an attempt to reach out to the protesters, the Tamil superstar made an appeal to the state film chambers in Kannada: "To our Kannada brothers, I appeal to you, I have done no wrong. So for those who want to watch the film please do not disrupt it. I humbly appeal to you to not trouble the film goers."
He further added,"The Film Chambers is supposed to ensure that there's no problem for distributors. It is not right that the Karnataka Film Chamber demands Kaala ban."
Several pro-Kannada groups threatened to stall the movie if it is screened despite an earlier "ban" on it by the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce. A section of the film fraternity in the state has admitted to being hugely upset by the superstar's remarks on Cauvery water row. Rajinkanth had said that Karnataka should release Tamil Nadu’s share of water to the state, drawing criticism from many in Karnataka, including Kumaraswamy.
A request for security was also part of Tuesday's court order, which left room for theatres to screen the movie if they wanted. The state government has assured the court it would be done. But Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, while saying he would comply with the court's order, suggested "as an individual" that the timing wasn't right for the film's release.
On Monday, fellow actor and now politician Kamal Haasan met Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy to discuss the Cauvery water distribution issue and found himself at the receiving end of much criticism for not bringing up the matter of Rajinikanth’s film not being released in the state.
Acting on the Supreme Court's direction, the Centre finally constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA) to address the long-standing dispute over sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry and issued a gazette notification.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to stall the release of Kaala in Karnataka saying: "You (the petitioner) want an injunction against the release of the movie. Everybody is waiting for the film to be released," reports news agency PTI. However, there's no update on the ban imposed by the Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce following Rajinikanth's comment on the Cauvery row, in which he sided with the Supreme Court's order.
Directed by Pa Ranjith, the film also stars Eswari Rao, Samuthirakani, Sampath Raj, Sayaji Shinde, Anjali Patil, Manikandan, Dileepan, Pankaj Tripathi, Ravi Kale, Ramesh Thilak, Arul Doss, Aravind Akash, Sakshi Agarwal, Arundhati, Suganya and Nithish.
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