Rajini's Lingaa hits 4,000 screens worldwide

Rajinikanth-starrer said to have already clocked Rs 200 cr through sale of tickets and rights

The much-awaited Rajinikanth’s Lingaa was released in more than 3,000 screens in India and over 1,000 screens worldwide as fans made serpentine queues in front of theatres to watch the ‘social-period’ drama.

According to industry sources, the bilingual (Tamil and Telugu) film, made with a budget of Rs 110 crore by producer Rockline Venkatesh, has been sold to Eros International for around Rs 130 crore worldwide, besides selling its broadcasting rights for Rs 80 crore, thereby making a profit of Rs 90 crore much before the movie was launched.

Trade experts are betting on whether the action-drama flick will be able to break the Endhiran and Kathi opening day collections at the Tamil Nadu Box Office. According to reports, Endhiran minted around Rs 11 crore on the first day in Tamil Nadu, while Vijay-starrer Kathi raked in around Rs 12.5 crore, which is currently the highest grossing Tamil film of 2014. Lingaa is expected to break that record, they said.

When contacted, Rockline Venkatesh did not reply, while Eros International officials did not respond to an email sent seeking details till the time of going to press.

Directed by KS Ravi Kumar, Lingaa has Rajinikanth, Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha in lead roles. AR Rahman has composed the music, while Rathnavelu has handled the cinematography.

The movie was released on Rajinikanth’s 64th birthday, hence the excitement has doubled for Rajini fans. His posters were anointed with milk early this morning - a ritual that is followed religiously — and processions were also carried out. Lingaa is also special because it is the first live action film, after four years, that Rajinikanth features in after Endhiran.

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court bench in Madurai on Thursday permitted the producer to release the movie on Friday on condition that he should deposit Rs 5 crore, besides providing a bank guarantee for an equal sum to the credit of the Registrar (Administration) of the bench.

A division bench of Justice V Dhanapalan and Justice V M Velumani ordered that the movie be released by 1 am, Friday, if the producer could deposit Rs 3 crore in the bank account of the Registrar through online transfer by Thursday evening. The rest of the money as well as the bank guarantee could be handed over by Monday.