Endhiran sets box office record

Indian cinema’s most expensive movie Endhiran (Robot) had a record opening weekend at the box office.

MUMBAI: Indian cinema’s most expensive movie Endhiran (Robot), starring former bus conductor Rajinikanth, had a record opening weekend at the box office, Bollywood analysts said.

“In the opening weekend, all the three versions of Robot have together collected $21 million, the highest-ever in India,” said Komal Nahta, a Bollywood trade analyst.

The sci-fi fantasy adventure, made in three languages, opened in India last Friday, with sales twice that of the previous record opener - Salman Khan’s recent hit Dabaang - Nahta said.

He expects Endhiran - which cost $35 million to make - to collect a further $28 million from ticket sales, as reviews have been encouraging.

A month ago, Dabaang grossed $10.8 million during its opening weekend, surpassing the $9 million record set by Aamir Khan’s mega-hit 3 Idiots.

Accurate box office figures are hard to come by in India. An independent industry website, boxofficeindia.com, said Endhiran had taken in $12.4 million over the weekend - a far lower estimate, but still a record.

India’s previous costliest film was Kites which starred Hrithik Roshan and was said to have been made for $27 million.

Theatres are running shows of Endhiran as early as 4 am in Rajinikanth’s stronghold southern city of Chennai, where fans have been seen queuing up for tickets.

The 60-year-old superstar Rajinikanth plays a double role, of a scientist and an android, which he has created. The robot falls in love with the scientist’s girlfriend, played by former Miss World and actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In Chennai, a 61-foot-poster was created close to a theatre where the movie was released.

Some fans washed the poster with milk - as offered to Hindu gods - a sign of purity.

Some celebrated the release by bursting crackers, beating drums and showering the movie screen with flowers.

In Mumbai, Bollywood’s hometown, fans offered prayers at a local theatre and the reel of the movie was offered in worship at a nearby temple, after which it was made available for public viewing.

“Endhiran is writing box office history,” Nahta told AFP, despite steep ticket prices of up to $32 (INR1,500) at some multiplexes.

Movie critic Nikhat Kazmi said Endhiran typified a mainstream Indian cinema movie and that the last 30 minutes of the film were “the ‘baap’ (grandmaster) of all make-believe.”

Published in The Express Tribune ,October 8^th, 2010.