Kabali vs Theri
A collage of Rajinikanth Fans Page/Vijay Twitter Page

Ilayathalapathy Vijay seems to be showing the signs of becoming the next big star of Tamil cinema, with his latest movie "Theri" being sold for a higher price than Rajinikanth-starrer "Kabali." In fact, the actor has set a new record in Kerala as the theatrical rights of his film has been sold for a record price.

A report on Indiaglitz claims that the theatrical rights of "Theri" was sold for Rs 6.5 crore, while "Kabali" rights was acquired by a distributor for Rs 6 crore. The Vijay-starrer has stunned the industry by earning price better than the superstar's film.

The latest developments indicate that Vijay's market is slowly but steadily expanding in Kerala. It is being said as highest-ever price paid for the actor's film in Kerala. His earlier films used to be sold in a range between Rs 2 crore to Rs 4 crore. But "Theri" has broken all the existing records to create a new history.

The Kerala film market has always been good for Tamil movies. Especially, films of Vijay and Rajinikanth have often performed well at the box office in the God's Own Country.

Meanwhile, Lyca Productions is reportedly in talks with Kalaipuli S Dhanu over acquiring the theatrical rights of "Theri." Journalist Sreedhar Pillai has confirmed the news on Twitter and wrote, "As per sources talks r happening between #Theri producer #KalaipuliDhanu & #Lyca.Nothing official there is many a slip between cup & the lip. (sic)"

"Theri" is an action-thriller, written and directed by Atlee Kumar. Samantha and Amy Jackson are the female leads in the Tamil flick. On the other end, "Kabali" is written and directed by Pa Ranjith. It is a gangster movie, which has Radika Apte playing the female lead role.

Both the movies are bankrolled by leading producer Kalaipuli S Dhanu.

[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]