Ponniyin Selvan I box office day 1 collection: Mani Ratnam film earns ₹40 cr, becomes best opening Tamil movie of 2022

Mani Ratnam’s epic period drama, Ponniyin Selvan I, finally opened in theatres on Friday to a thunderous welcome. As per trade sources, the film has made around ₹40 crore nett across India on its opening day, with a substantial but unconfirmed amount coming from overseas as well. However, industry insiders are confidently saying that the film has registered the best worldwide opening by any Tamil film this year, beating the likes of Vikram and Valimai. Also read: Ponniyin Selvan I box office prediction: Mani Ratnam film set for ₹60 crore opening

Early estimates suggest the film made around ₹20 crore nett in Tamil Nadu, while the Hindi version netted around ₹2 crore. It has made an additional ₹16-18 crore in the rest of the country from its Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada versions, for a total pan-India first day nett collection of ₹40 crore.

Trade experts say the total worldwide gross collection of the film for its first day could be as high as ₹70 crore. The final number would only be clear by Saturday afternoon though. In any case, the number would be greater than Kamal Haasan’s Vikram ( ₹54 crore) and Ajith’s Valimai ( ₹50 crore), making PS1 the best-opening Tamil film this year. Trade experts are predicting the film to cross ₹200 crore globally in its opening weekend itself.

Ponniyin Selvan I is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel of the same name, which tells a fictionalised account of the early life of Arulmozhivarman (Ponniyin Selvan), who would become the Chola emperor Rajaraja I (947–1014). The film will be followed by the second part next year.

The film stars Jayam Ravi in the title role, with Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Prakash Raj, and Sobhita Dulipala also featuring. The film has opened to critical acclaim with special praise for Mani Ratnam’s direction, Aishwarya Rai’s performance, and AR Rahman’s musical score.

ott:10