Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’ is making waves at the North American box office, grossing USD 6.22 million in five days, nearing ‘Chhaava’s’ total earnings. Despite mixed word-of-mouth and dipping daily collections, ‘Coolie’ showcases Rajinikanth’s star power and the global appeal of Tamil cinema. In India, ‘Coolie’ faces collection drops, while ‘Chhaava’s’ success highlights the diverse genres thriving abroad.
Superstar Rajinikanth has once again proven his unmatched global appeal with his latest release Coolie, which has stormed the North American box office. The film has grossed an impressive USD 6.22 million in just five days, making it the second-biggest Indian film of 2025 in the region, second only to Chhaava.What makes this feat extraordinary is the pace at which Coolie has scaled these heights. While Chhaava, starring Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna, and Akshaye Khanna, earned USD 6.4 million over its entire theatrical run, Coolie has nearly touched that figure within its first 5 days and now needs another USD 200K to breach that amount. While the film earned over USD 3 million just from its premiere shows, the word of mouth on the film isn’t exactly great and hence its daily collections are dipping. It now all depends on the coming weekend if the film picks up again or not. The break-even point for the film has been pegged at USD 7.5 million which is still far away as the initial buzz and excitement for the film is over.In India as well Coolie has been seeing a drop in it’s collection as in 5 days the film has collected a little over Rs 206 crore. The number in isolation looks big but given the star power attached to the film from Lokesh Kanagaraj to Nagarjuna to Upendra to Shruti Haasan to Aamir Khan, the number does not justify the scale. Chhaava, directed by Laxman Utekar, had been considered one of the surprise North American success stories of 2025. Its lifetime earnings of USD 6.4 million had set a benchmark for Bollywood films this year. While Coolie is now on the verge of overtaking that tally in less than a week underlines Rajinikanth’s unparalleled star power and the widening scope of Tamil blockbusters overseas but it will be a while before the film starts making profits for its distributors..Interestingly, the competition between Coolie and Chhaava also highlights how diverse genres of Indian cinema are thriving abroad. While Chhaava rode on historical grandeur and star-studded performances, Coolie has gone the other way delivering raw, massy entertainment that appeals directly to audiences looking for high-octane thrills on the big screen.
