In what could be perceived as a shocking setback to the Rajinikanth legend, his latest release 'Kaala' has opened to an underwhelming response. It is one of the lowest-recorded openings in recent times for a Rajinikanth starrer.

Kaala' box office collection: 'Kaala' records lowest ever opening for Rajinikanth film screams Leading india Headline Times of India.

Another leading media India Today says, "Shocking! Rajinikanth's Kaala registers lowest ever first day box office collection" in its heading.

Actor-activist Vishal Krishna who heads the Tamil Nadu Films Producers' Council (TFPC) says it's too early to make any predictions.

Trade analyst Atul Mohan says that the buzz for this one is low despite having known faces from Hindi cinema like Nana Patekar, Huma Qureshi and Pankaj Tripathi.

"This may be due to some of the factors like couple of postponements in release date, Ramzan period , particularly the week before Eid which is dullest for business, as next Friday the big film of Salman Khan releases. Rajinikanth is still a huge craze as the character Chitti of 'Robot' and fans are waiting for the sequel '2.0' .

"Also his last few films haven't done well. The promos of 'Kaala' haven't established a connect with Hindi audiences. It looks like a 1990s' film. But we hope they have some great story to be shared which may be liked and the film does well," said Mohan.

Vijay's Mersal holds the record for the highest first-day collection in Tamil Nadu. It had beaten the record of Kabali by minting Rs 24.80 crore on the opening day. Ajith's Vivegam is in the third place by raking in Rs 16.50 crore.

The trade experts are of the opinion that Kaala might not register the record opening and surpass the opening-day collection of Rs 21.50 crore, set by Kabali. The movie is expected to do the business in the range between Rs 6 crore - Rs 12 crore on the first day in the state.

Film Sources in Tamilnadu says Rajinikanth angry speech against protesters who fought against Sterlite a polluting copper plant is also a prime reason for low opening.

Tamilnadu which was boiled against killing of innocent 13 protestors by police shoot out and in Social media they targeted Rajini that has resulted in dent in his image.