Mani Ratnam directed Ponniyin Selvan 1 starring Vikram, Karthi, Jayaram Ravi, Trisha and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is heading for a historic day in Tamil Nadu. The movie has captured insane progress with shows starting as early as 1am and putting up the houseful boards. There are some properties that have 72 shows assigned to PS 1, and all 72 shows are sold out in advance.

PS 1 could become one of those rare non-tier 1 star films i.e. non-Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay and Ajith films – to get an opening day of Rs. 20 crore or more in Tamil Nadu alone. The craze is on another level as the novel has a cult following in the state. The Mani Ratnam factor in addition to the credibility of the actors involved in the film has also boosted presales by a significant number.

Overall, PS 1 will look at a Rs. 20 crore plus will start in Tamil Nadu alone, and the global opening day for all versions is expected to be around Rs. 40 crore plus. We are not even ruling out a possibility of an opening closer to Rs. 50 crore mark as more and more shows around the world are added as you read this article.

In India, the film has sold nearly 7 lakh tickets for its opening day alone, with the bulk of the sales coming from Tamil Nadu. PVR chain alone has clocked an advance of 2 Lakh tickets, and this speaks volumes about the hype surrounding the film. The Hindi version is rather weak, but word of mouth should help the film turn a profit over the weekend. Keep reading Bollywood Hungama for in-depth coverage of PS 1.

More pages: Ponniyin Selvan: Part-1 Box Office Collection