Shankar 3.0, Graphics 2.0, But Rajini?

Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth and director Shankar's 2.0 collected a share of Rs.168 crores world wide in its first weekend's run. Though the numbers are impressive to some extent, the film needs a long way to reach break even Rs.375+ crores. 

Hitherto to the movie's release, the makers made tall claims that they had invested Rs.600 crores on the project. It was then thought that the magic of Shankar, Rajini and VFX would work wonders to ensure phenomenal openings of the project. But then, how well the three crucial factors had their impact at the box office? Let's analyse. 

Shankar has sizeable track record which usually build exceptional hype to his larger than life films. Of course, Shankar appeared to have lived up to the expectations. For an instance, Telugu versions of Shankar's previous films Robo, I and 2.0 are concerned, all three films occupied top places in all time top ten openers among dubbing films. Obviously, Shankar bags lion share in good collections of the film in its first weekend's run. 

Though Shankar's craze among audience was elevated with 2.0 openings, there were major complaints from the wafer thin storyline and screen play. But then, high end visual effects of the film stood at top notch and were lauded as better graphics than Baahubali. 

Once upon a time, Rajinikanth's name was just enough to get his films break box office records. But then, all of his recent offings failed miserably at the box office. With the dismay of Rajini's fans, 2.0 occupied 7th place among Tamil top ten day one grossers. Had Rajini really got the same charisma among fans and movie lovers, he could have made 2.0 a top grosser. Is it an indication Rajini's craze gets eroded?

Considering ebb and flow of the film at ticket window, for time being, Shankar's range appears to be 3.0 with fully loaded expertise, while graphics stand second with 2.0. But then, what about Rajini's status?