The initial sales figures for the Pongal releases are out. While ‘team Thunivu’ can brag about dominating Tamil Nadu, ‘team Varisu’ actually has a higher all-India rating, despite not having Telugu dub releases. The biggest winner is the Tamil Nadu box office, which had its biggest single-day ever and broke the $40 million barrier.
Ajith Kumar-starrer Thunivu and Thalapathy Vijay-starrer Varisu’s combined box office receipts are expected to total around Rs 41 crores. The combined number for these movies could have been even higher, but some film theatres cancelled early morning shows.
Thunivu made an estimated Rs 29 crores in India on its opening day, with particularly strong performances in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Kerala had a weak start, and so did Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it had a big release but couldn’t draw profit. This was not entirely unexpected, as Ajith has never been a big draw in these two markets.
Ajith’s first-day sales in Tamil Nadu were second only to those of his previous film, Valimai, which brought in Rs 28 crores on its opening day. The territorial breakdown for Thunivu’s first day in India is as follows:
Tamil Nadu – Rs 21 crores (approx)
Karnataka – Rs 3.75 crores
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – Rs 2 crores
Kerala – Rs 1.40 crores
Rest of India – Rs 45 lakh
Vijay’s Varisu collected Rs 30 crore across the country in a single day. The megastar’s first-day earnings in Tamil Nadu has ranked sixth so far, as compared to other states. Since the release of Mersal in 2017, Vijay has consistently surpassed the Rs 20 crore mark on the first day; no other actor from the South has accomplished this feat, even once until yesterday. Several reports observe that Varisu had higher occupancy rates than Thunivu on the first day.
Thunivu has made around Rs 37.6 crore since its release, compared to Varisu’s Rs 46.2 crore, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. Early projections place Thunivu’s second-day revenue in Tamil Nadu at around Rs 14.42 crore, with the day’s total expected to be between Rs 17 crore and Rs 19 crore. Comparatively, Varisu’s second day collection in India is thought to be somewhere between Rs 18 crore and Rs 20 crore.
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