This Independence Day weekend witnessed a big box office battle between two of India’s largest cinematic giants — Rajinikanth and Hrithik Roshan. With Coolie and War 2 releasing on August 14, both the films had the benefit of a long opening due to the August 15 holiday. Although both had good openings, Rajinikanth’s mass entertainer Coolie has distinctly gained the upper hand over the first eight days.
Coolie Box Office Collection Day 8
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Coolie stormed into theatres on the back of a Day 1 collection of ₹65 crore in India. The film, which has an ensemble cast of Nagarjuna, Aamir Khan, Shruti Haasan, Soubin Shahir, and Rajinikanth in a high-octane role, carried the momentum over the weekend. In the first week, the film crossed ₹200 crore in India — a testament to the huge fan base of Rajinikanth and the reach of the film across geographies.
Though, as is mostly the trend, Coolie experienced a decline in collections on weekdays. As per Sacnilk.com, the film collected around ₹6.25 crore on Day 8, and its overall domestic collection is now at ₹229.75 crore. Globally, the film has allegedly crossed the ₹400 crore gross box office mark, becoming one of the biggest hits till date.
War 2 Box Office Collection Day 8
The highly-expected War 2, which is a part of the Yash Raj Films’ spy franchise, reunited Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR in an action-packed thriller. The sequel, after the huge success of the inaugural War film featuring Hrithik and Tiger Shroff, had very high expectations riding on it. The film had a decent opening, banking on the hype and the Independence Day euphoria.
But whereas Coolie had no such problems, finding it difficult to sustain pace on weekdays, War 2 also found it challenging to do so on Day 8. It raked in an estimated ₹5 crore at the Indian box office. The film’s overall domestic total has now crossed ₹200 crore but still lags behind Coolie in India and globally. Its overall worldwide gross now stands at around ₹375 crore.
Verdict: Coolie Tops the Box Office Charts
Though the two movies had enormous openings and good weekend figures, Coolie has emerged as the obvious favorite in this box office duel. With the star power of Rajinikanth, an all-India cast, and broad mass appeal, Coolie keeps drawing crowds while War 2 has received a calmer response even if it was on a massive scale with its star cast.
