Of the 200 crore, the film is said to have made almost Rs 100 crore in the overseas market. This is the biggest success of Ponniyin Selvan, says producer and film historian G Dhananjayan. “It is a phenomenal number, especially considering the overseas market. In Tamil cinema, never has a film done such a number overseas in four days. In a country like the USA, the film has made around four million dollars. Many films do one or two million in lifetime sales, and this film did it in four days. The numbers are almost 50-50 between domestic and overseas markets. This shows the kind of market expansion that is happening in Tamil cinema among global markets.” A wide release, curiosity among fans to see the epic conclude and expensive ticket prices in the US have made this feat possible, he adds.
Industry expert Sreedhar Pillai points out that this phenomenon is unique to a few people in the industry. “Mani Ratnam is better in the overseas market rather than his home ground market. Like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Vijay, Mani Ratnam enjoys a huge fandom among the Tamil diaspora. He has made around 10 million dollars with PS-2.”