'Minimum guarantee': Why everyone makes money on a Rajinikanth film

“Minimum guarantee” and “charisma” are words often used by industry insiders to describe Rajinikanth’s enduring appeal on the silver screen, nearly 50 years after he made his debut. Everyone in the value chain earns at least a minimum profit with his films, say industry folks. Veteran producer-distributor-exhibitor Abirami Ramanathan, who has worked with Rajini in all three capacities, explains it thus: “Suppose a film of his is made for Rs 150 crore, it will surely earn at least Rs 200 crore at the box office. The producer is happy, the distributor is happy, and the theatre owners are happy.” As a producer, he is confident of recovering at least 1.5x the investment. As a distributor, the risk of losing money on a Rajini film is much lower, to the tune of 5 to 10 per cent. Ramanathan distributed many Rajini films in the Chennai territory till Kochadaiiyaan. For instance, he picked up the rights for Sivaji: The Boss (2007) for Rs 6.75 crore—a big sum at the time—and made a profit on it, though he refuses to say how much.

For an exhibitor, Rajinikanth brings in higher footfalls and occupancy levels. With the theatre owners’ share of collections (40-50 per cent) and expenses (power consumption and labour) being fixed for any film—hit or flop, Ramanathan says: “As a theatre owner, only if I get films like Rajini’s can I survive. So, God knows, we will wait for Rajini’s films.”

“More than everybody making money on his films, nobody loses money. That’s brand Rajinikanth,” says Ruban Mathivanan of GK Cinemas, a two-screen theatre in Chennai. He says even when a Rajini film underperforms, the collection is on par with that of a second-rung actor, but is not at a loss for the exhibitor. In Tamil Nadu, tickets are not sold for more than Rs 150-190 (excluding taxes) owing to a price cap. “If a film collects big money on the Rs 190 ticket price, everybody gets a good profit—producer, distributor and exhibitor,” says Mathivanan.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, especially for distributors. Baba (2002), produced and co-written by the superstar himself, bombed at the box office and the actor was forced to reimburse distributors. Similarly, Kuselan, Lingaa (2014), Kochadaiiyaan (2014) and Darbar (2020) have proved to be losses for distributors in recent times, with Kabali (2016) earning them only meagre returns. Industry insiders point to producers overhyping the film and jacking up distribution rates, resulting in lower returns or loss for the distributors, though the film may have earned decent box office collections. For instance, Lingaa made on an estimated budget of Rs 100 crore collected a reported Rs 150 crore in worldwide gross. But the film’s distributors faced losses and threatened protests, which culminated only with the actor paying them around `10 crore as compensation.

Jailer is a much-needed super hit for the star, coming after a decade of lacklustre films such as Kuselan, Lingaa, Kochadaiiyaan, and 2021’s Annaatthe. Though he first played his age in Kabali, it took him another seven years to finally hit the mark as a retired cop in Jailer. “The film’s success is a combination of his persona and good content which appeals even to the audience of today who may not have been born when he was at the peak of his powers in the mid-’90s,” says trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai.

Yet, the confidence that audiences are willing to watch a Rajini film at least once, makes the trade bet on him again and again. GK Cinemas’ Mathivanan says a successful opening weekend is guaranteed for a Rajini film where tickets get sold for houseful shows till Sunday by the preceding Wednesday. “It has happened even with his worst films.” Says Ramanathan, “If I get his dates, I will produce a film. But there’s a queue in front of me and I won’t be able to break it.”