Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’ beats Vicky Kaushal’s ‘Chhaava’ to become 2025’s biggest Indian grosser in North America

Rajinikanth’s latest outing, Coolie, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, has rewritten the 2025 box office charts overseas. In just 9 days, the film has raked in USD 6.60 million in North America alone, surpassing the entire lifetime of Vicky Kaushal’s historical epic Chhaava in the same circuit, which had closed at USD 6.4 million. With this feat, Coolie has emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025 in overseas markets so far, cementing Rajinikanth’s enduring global pull.Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara with newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda is sitting strong on third spot with USD 6 million collection. The love story has shown a strong performance at the box office despite release of films like Mahavatar Narsimha, War 2 and Coolie.The film had a thunderous start, with USD 3.04 million from premiere shows, the kind of opening usually reserved for big franchise spectacles. The extended four-day opening weekend carried Coolie past the USD 5 million milestone in record time, despite weekday drops thereafter. Day 9 added another USD 93,000, taking the total to USD 6.60 million and ensuring it overtook Chhaava’s benchmark comfortably. The Telugu version has contributed a notable USD 1.81 million, underlining Coolie’s wide-reaching appeal beyond Tamil-speaking audiences.In contrast, Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava, directed by Laxman Utekar, had delivered spectacular numbers in India and performed decently overseas but lacked the firepower to sustain long in North American circuits. Its USD 6.4 million finish overseas was considered a solid figure, but Coolie’s rapid march past that tally in just over a week highlights the superstar’s unmatched brand value with diaspora audiences.However, the story back home in India paints a different picture. Chhaava remains the undisputed box office giant of 2025 in the domestic market, with a staggering Rs 601 crore lifetime collection across all languages. Its period-war canvas and Vicky Kaushal’s commanding performance and adequately supported by Akshaye Khanna and Rashmika Mandanna gave it a pan-India resonance . Coolie, despite its blockbuster start, has managed Rs 245.50 crore in 10 days,a strong number but nowhere near Chhaava’s scale. Many in the trade have begun to call Coolie, Lokesh Kanagaraj’s first flop film.As it stands, 2025 has produced two clear winners: Chhaava at home and Coolie abroad. Together, they highlight the evolving dynamics of Indian cinema, where the battleground for supremacy is now split between domestic dominance and global reach.