Moviebuzz

Chennai, Mar 13: The overseas rights of the Rajnikant-Shankar film has been sold, by AVM to London based ‘Ayngaran International’ for an all time record price.

Even before release, Rajnikant’s Sivaji is creating new records in distribution rights sale. It created a benchmark in distribution sales in India- Andhra, Kerala, and Karnataka and now the most wanted area- Overseas (rest of the world barring Indian domestic market). It has been grabbed by the London based K.Karunamoorthy of `Ayngaran International` after a stiff bidding war with some of the big names in Bollywood overseas distribution trade.

The market buzz is that Ayngaran, who controls 90 percent of the lucrative Tamil film overseas business, has swung the deal in their favour for a whopping US $ 3 million, approximately Rs 13 Crore. It is the highest ever paid for a Tamil or any film in South Indian language!

Please note that Hindi films are almost three times as big as Tamil films abroad. Recently UTV purchased Shahrukh Khan’s virtually the emperor of overseas market Don, for $ 3 million. Now Sivaji a Tamil film at the same price has created a big stir in the overseas market.

Remember Chandramukhi, the previous film of the superstar was sold overseas for $ 1.4 million or approximately Rs 6 Crore. But the buzz around Sivaji, where Rajnikanth is being directed by Shankar who has an impeccable track record abroad pushed the price to an all time new high. The overseas rights include theatrical, audio, video, DVD, internet and inflight.

Overseas market analysts feel that it is a stiff price, and much will depend on the opening that the film takes and the marketing of Ayngaran. Normally a big Tamil film releases with 70 to 85 prints. Sivaji will have to open with 120 to 130 prints, if it has to break even.