Rajinikanth’s latest film, Coolie, has made a massive impact at the box office, crossing the ₹250 crore mark worldwide just two days after its release. Taking advantage of the Independence Day holiday, the movie saw strong ticket sales both in India and overseas. In the first two days, Coolie earned ₹118.50 crore net (₹145 crore gross) in India and raked in over $13 million (around ₹110 crore) from international markets, making it the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2025 so far. The film’s success is even more impressive given that most South Indian star-driven films see a sharp drop after the opening day, but Coolie managed to keep that decline to just 17%, thanks to great word of mouth.
Coolie’s performance has also reignited discussions about Rajinikanth’s place in Tamil cinema. Despite years of debate that Ajith Kumar or Vijay might have overtaken him as the top star, Coolie’s numbers prove otherwise. In just two days, the film has surpassed the lifetime collections of Ajith’s releases this year, including Vidaamuyarchi (₹138 crore) and Good Bad Ugly (₹248 crore). It has also beaten other popular Tamil films like Dragon (₹150 crore), solidifying Rajinikanth’s standing as the reigning superstar in the industry.
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Coolie stars Rajinikanth in the lead role and features a strong supporting cast including Nagarjuna, Shruti Haasan, Soubin Shahir, and Upendra, with a cameo by Aamir Khan. If the film continues its current momentum through the weekend, experts believe it could cross ₹400 crore in just its opening weekend, putting it on track to challenge the all-time Tamil box office record of ₹691 crore set by Rajinikanth’s 2.0.
