Rajinikanth's Annaatthe has taken a fantastic opening at the worldwide box office. The bilingual movie, which saw the light of the day on Wednesday, 4 November, has been overwhelmingly received by the fans of the superstar.

Rajinikanth's Annaatthe
Rajinikanth's Annaatthe.PR Handout

Released in over 500 screens in Tamil Nadu, Annaatthe had generated a lot of buzz before the release resulting in a good opening. "Rajini fans were eager to watch him on-screen after close to two years. Also, the regular audience were desperately awaiting a big release to watch in theatres after Covid-19 restrictions on theatres were lifted. These factors helped the flick to get good start," an industry insider tells.

The exhibitors were charged up after the state government allowed theatres to run shows with 100 percent capacity. "So, the pre-booking for tickets was started well in advance. Cashing in on the hype, they started special shows in theatres in many parts of the country," the source adds.

The special shows were started as early as 4 am in Chennai and cine-goers throned to shows with big numbers.

Annaatthe ran into packed houses across the states. Especially in Chennai, the movie did well on the release day. Outside Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth's film did a decent collection in Telangana, Andhra, and Karnataka.

Rajinikanth
A screengrab from Annaatthe teaserYouTube

Coming to overseas centres, Annaatthe has got a good start in the US, Malaysia, and Singapore.

As far as the worldwide collection of the Rajinikanth-starrer is concerned, the film is expected to gross over Rs 25 crore on the first day. It is an early estimation and the figures might drastically change as the reports from many centres including domestic business are yet to arrive.

Meanwhile, Annaatthe has garnered mixed reviews with critics largely trashing the movie for below-average content. They have the view that the flick is a routine commercial entertainer with nothing new to offer.

Annaatthe unites Rajinikanth with Siruthai Siva for the first time. It has Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Meena, Khushbu Sundar, Jagapathi Babu, and others in the cast.