Vijay, Trisha's romantic actioner 'Ghilli' breaks 'Avatar', 'Sholay' records

One of the biggest hits in the careers of all those involved in the project, including actors ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay, Trisha Krishnan and Prakash Raj, director Dharani’s 2004 blockbuster romantic sports actioner ‘Ghilli’ was re-released in select theatres across India on April 20, marking the movie’s 20th anniversary. As expected, fans eagerly embraced its comeback, flocking to cinemas in large numbers to experience ‘Ghilli’ once again.

With the continued patronage of fans, ‘Ghilli’ has achieved unprecedented success and become the highest-grossing re-release film in India in the 21st century, grossing approximately Rs 20 crore in the domestic market in just nine days, according to industry tracker ‘Sacnilk’.

‘Ghilli’ has thus broken the record of director James Cameron’s epic science fiction film ‘Avatar’ (2009), which minted Rs 18 crore when it was re-released in 2012 in India. Ramesh Sippy’s action-adventure film ‘Sholay’ (1975) stands at the third position, grossing Rs 13 crore when it was released in the 3D version in 2013.

Incidentally, ‘Ghilli’ secured its position as the fourth highest-grossing Tamil film of 2024 at the domestic box office, trailing behind ‘Captain Miller’, ‘Ayalaan’ and ‘Lal Salaam’.

On its opening day, the film minted Rs 8 crore worldwide, as reported by a popular entertainment agency, with Rs 4.75 crore solely from the domestic market, while the remainder came from overseas. Interestingly, the Vijay film minted more than Rajnikanth’s ‘Lal Salaam’. Helmed by Rajnikanth’s daughter Aishwarya, the film collected just Rs 3.55 crore (net) in India on the opening day.