In Tamil Nadu, the harvest festival of Pongal holds special significance and is celebrated with traditional fervour. The festival also marks its importance for cinema in the state. During the Pongal holidays, many big-budget movies are released. This year, two of the biggest Tamil superstars ‘Thala’ Ajith and ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay clashed at the box office. Ajith’s Thunivu and Vijay’s Varisu were released on 11 January, which was a Wednesday.
Talking about the numbers, Thala Ajith’s ‘Thunivu’ has done a worldwide business of Rs 250 crores, while Thalapathy Vijay’s ‘Varisu’ has concluded its box-office journey by collecting Rs 300 crores. Now, the fans of both superstars are keenly awaiting the OTT release of their favorite actor’s films.
Surprisingly, despite receiving negative reviews, both of these movies have the second-highest box office collections of these two superstars’ careers. And that is when the Hindi versions of both movies failed to strike a chord with the audiences. Vijay and Ajith currently hold the position in Tamil Nadu that was once held by superstar Rajinikanth and “Ulganayagan” Kamal Haasan. The competition between the two was so intense that when “Thunivu” and “Varisu” were released, fans of the two film stars clashed and tore apart each other’s movie posters.
#Varisu extends its lead over #Thunivu with its long legs to become Vijay's '2nd highest' grosser in Tamil Nadu behind #Bigil. Chances to enter Top 3 behind #PS1 & #Vikram aren't ruled out!#Thunivu with a more front loaded genre has become second highest for Ajith as well. pic.twitter.com/LTGr4C7Zfg
— Cinetrak (@Cinetrak) February 7, 2023
However, it can be said that Kollywood has had a very successful start to 2023 based on box office collections. The collection of Rs 50 crore from the Telugu and Kerala states for Vijay’s “Varisu” proved to be lucrative. It collected over Rs 143 crore in Tamil Nadu. Everyone was stunned when the Vijay starrer earned Rs 90 crore overseas. Whereas ‘Thunivu’ did a business of Rs 115 crores in Tamil Nadu.
About the films
Vijay starrer Varisu has Rashmika Mandanna as the lead. The film is about a happy-go-lucky man whose life changed after the unexpected death of his foster father.
On the other hand, Ajith Kumar starrer Thunivu is about a criminal mastermind played by Ajith. His team forms a plan to commit heists across banks in Chennai.
