Vettaiyan box office collection day 1: The coming together of two legendary stars, Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan, has resulted in fireworks at the box office. The Tamil action drama Vettaiyan had a solid start to its journey, delivering the second-best opening for a Tamil film this year, after Vijay’s The Greatest of All Time (GOAT).

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Vettaiyan minted Rs 30 cr all-India nett on Thursday. The film performed best in Tamil Nadu, which alone contributed Rs 26 cr at the box office, followed by Telugu collections, which were a little over Rs 3 cr. The Hindi version of the film had no release in the national chains due to the OTT-window tussle that has been happening for a long time. This could prove to be detrimental to the film’s box office potential, as Amitabh Bachchan remains a major attraction.

Vettaiyan’s collections are underwhelming in comparison with Rajinikanth’s last screen outing, Jailer, which smashed records last year. Jailer had opened at Rs 48 cr, with Tamil collections standing at Rs 37 cr– more than Vettaiyan’s all-India nett haul. Jailer, of course, released amid greater hype and was helmed by Nelson. Vettaiyan has been described as a more grounded commercial entertainer by director TJ Gnanavel, who had previously helmed the acclaimed Jai Bhim.

 

 

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Vettaiyan’s collections display the might of Rajinikanth, who, at 73, can still open films at a scale higher than most young stars. With a nearly Rs 30 cr day one haul, Vettaiyan is behind Vijay’s GOAT, which had taken a solid start at Rs 44 cr, with Tamil collections being a little over Rs 39 cr.

The film will now hope to record steady collections on Friday, before an anticipated jump on Saturday and Sunday, but this would depend entirely on word of mouth.  If the reception is positive, then the film might benefit from the Dussehra holiday period as well. GOAT had ended its theatrical run with around Rs 250 cr domestically, while Jailer had earned almost Rs 100 crore more. The next few days will determine if Vettaiyan is able to match the performance of Rajinikanth’s biggest hits.