PS-1 expected to breach Rs 75 cr mark on the first day

CHENNAI: The release of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan-1 is just a couple of days away. The advance booking of tickets in single screens and a few multiplexes opened on Sunday, along with overseas booking. With a stellar cast of Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi and Trisha Krishnan, the movie has created a huge anticipation among people ahead of its release.

Servers of ticketing websites crashed and the film has almost sold out on day one. A leading producer told DT Next, “PS-1’s tickets have been selling like hot cakes and the opening is already huge. We cannot predict numbers now as multiplexes like SPI, PVR and IMAX are yet to open.” Sources in the industry say that upon opening, IMAX is expected to screen shows with 100 per cent occupancy in the first five days.

Trade analyst Ramesh Bala predicts that the box-office collection is set to amass a whopping Rs 75 crore only on the first day. “So far Tamil Nadu has fared the highest in the booking with Rs 25 crore with Rest of India raking in the box-office moolah of Rs 15 crore. In the overseas market that comprises of USA, Middle East, Malaysia and Singapore, the film is expected to collect another 30 crores. The numbers can be anywhere between Rs 75 crore- 80 crore on the first day.” The film surpassed the 1 million US dollar mark on Tuesday (Rs 8.1 crore INR) more than what Vijay’s Beast opened to earlier this year.

This means that this will be the biggest opening for a Mani Ratnam film in his career or even a Tamil film. Ponniyin Selvan-1 will be locking horns with Dhanush’s Naane Varuvean and Hrithik-Saif’s Vikram Vedha this week.