The strong run that Nanban is having in certain circuits even a month after its release has got the distributors raving about the wonders it has performed at the box office. Nanban has shown nothing less than phenomenal performance in the Madurai and Coimbatore belts. The distributors for these areas, Ramesh and Sivakumar, respectively have stated that almost all centres are witnessing repeat audiences and that is sustaining the collections in a big way. The gross collection of Nanban from 4 circuits of Coimbatore is around Rs. 5.5 crores. This is next only to Superstar’s Endhiran that had done a business of Rs. 8.0 crores during its initial month in the same 4 circuits. Yes, a difference of 2.5 crores in a months run in a district between two movies is quite huge. But, one must also take into account the fact that the tickets for Endhiran during the initial week had sold out for Rs. 500 and above while Nanban tickets were in the normal range of Rs 70-100 in both Madurai and Coimbatore. What does this mean? Well, it’s a complex issue of various factors. That a star can command houseful audiences even with tickets selling for Rs.500 is an indication of the crowd pulling power that he has. At the same time, if Nanban has gone on to make nearly 70% of Endhiran’s collection within the same running period, it means that it commanded a lot of repeat audiences, which the distributors say is true. Of course, we should also understand that the lower ticket rates is also a factor in attracting repeat audiences; which is something that Endhiran could not have done with ticket rates hitting the ceiling.
All said and done, the final numbers state one fact; in many circuits the business that Nanban has generated is second only to Endhiran; and it is definitely the highest ever numbers generated by a Vijay starrer; not to forget Jiiva. And, in the midst of Endhiran, Nanban, Rajni and Vijay, we should not forget the one man common to all this- shankar. He has truly emerged as the biggest revenue generating director of the industry.
