RRR beats Rajinikanth’s Muthu to become highest-grossing Indian film ever in Japan

SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR, which released in Japan on October 21, has now become the highest grossing Indian film in the country, overtaking Rajinikanth’s Muthu, which held the record for two decades. The film, which was released in 209 screens and 31 Imax screens across 44 cities and prefectures in Japan, has crossed JPY400 million (around ₹24 crore) to claim the top spot.

Rajinikanth’s Muthu, released 24 years ago, remained the highest grossing Indian film of all time in Japan with a box office collection of JPY400 million for over two decades. As per a report by Tollywood.net, RRR has crossed JPY 400 million to take the top spot held by Muthu for so many years.

Few weeks ago, SS Rajamouli and the film’s stars Ram Charan and Jr. NTR were in Japan to promote their film. RRR is a fictional story set in the 1920s pre-independent era and is based on the lives of two real heroes and well-known revolutionaries – Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. While Ram Charan played Ram, Tarak was seen as Bheem.

RRR, which grossed over ₹1100 crore worldwide during its theatrical run and was massively celebrated for its breath-taking action set pieces, recently re-released across several cities in the US as part of the Beyond Fest.

In October, the film was showcased at TCL Chinese Theatre and was received with thunderous response from the audience. A Deadline report confirmed that the 932 seats in the theatre were sold out in 20 minutes. From the single show, the film minted $21,000, taking its cumulative box-office earnings from re-release to $221,156.

Meanwhile, the makers of RRR are gearing up for the Academy Awards. Amid all this, the film is expected to score big at the Golden Globes nominations which will be announced later on Monday. While RRR is not India’s official entry at the Oscars this years, it has been submitted to the jury independently. Given it’s popularity in the US, it is expected to make a splash at the prestigious awards.

Recently, RRR won the Best Director trophy for SS Rajamouli at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. The win has taken the film’s Oscar chances up a notch.