Box office: Kaala struggles to earn Rs1 crore on opening day

A Rajinikanth film is always an event, but it seems the magic is fading. The actor's presence in Pa Ranjith's fiery social drama, Kaala, has not seen any tremendous collection at the box office. According to boxofficeindia.com, the film is expected to post a low total of Rs1 crore approximately on its opening day.

While the collections are expected to be significantly higher in the southern circuits, the film is expected to perform well below the opening day collections of the last Rajinikanth film, Kabali (2016).

Kabali, also directed by Pa Ranjith, managed Rs3.5 crore on its first day. However, the film was a far more commercial and massy entertainer than the latest venture. Kaala, despite the presence of familiar faces like Pankaj Tripathi, Nana Patekar, and Huma Qureshi, is unlikely to make an impact in the Mumbai and northern circuits.

The film's release in the pre-Eid weekend, usually reserved for the buzz of a Salman Khan film, has also worked against it. In contrast, the Hollywood summer blockbuster, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is likely to pocket Rs5.75-6 crore on its opening day.

According to unconfirmed reports, Kaala is likely to break over Rs1.76 crore in Chennai city on opening day. This would put its collection above another very social drama, Mersal (2017). The film, starring Vijay, managed Rs1.52 crore on its opening day.

The first day collection in Chennai city will also beat the previous high of Kabali which made close to a Rs1.12-1.15 crore.

Incidentally, both Kaala and Mersal are built on stories that are inherently political, and carry a very strong propaganda against the ruling powers.

However, this collection is being rated as good because Kaala released on a non-holiday Thursday (7 June), and might see the audience warm up to it over the weekend.