Rajinikanth’s upcoming film Coolie, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, is one of the most expensive movies ever made in Tamil. The total budget is around 375 crores, including the costs for print and publicity, according to Pinkvilla.
Rajinikanth’s fee for the film is a whopping 150 crores, making him one of the highest-paid actors in the country. Director Lokesh Kanagaraj is getting paid 50 crores, which is also a record for any Indian director.
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The remaining 150 crores are spent on production costs and other actors like Aamir Khan, Nagarjuna, Upendra, and Pooja Hegde.
Despite the huge budget, the producers have already recovered 240 crores through selling digital, satellite, and music rights, according to the reports.
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Digital platforms have paid 130 crores, satellite rights fetched 90 crores, and music rights brought in 20 crores.
This means the film needs to earn about 135 crores from theatrical releases to break even. That means the film has to collect a minimum of 400 crores worldwide gross to break even. Given the star power and pre-release hype, this seems possible but still a big challenge.
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The Tamil version will fire big time, but it will be the Telugu and Hindi markets that will hold the key.
If the Telugu market can contribute around 60 crores gross and Hindi can go up to 30-40 crores, then Coolie has a fair chance to become a hit at the box office.
In terms of perception, the real aim of Coolie is to earn 1000 crores and become the first Tamil film to do so. However, it seems the makers want to create a perception that Coolie will be a hit even at 400 crores gross.
That’s why they are floating these remuneration, OTT, and satellite deal figures in the media. It seems they are not aiming for 1000 crores and hence they are lowering box office expectations.
Coolie is set to release on August 14, 2025, in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and other Indian languages. The film’s success will be watched closely because of its massive budget and expectations, and also because of its clash with YRF’s WAR 2.
