Vettaiyan box office collection Day 3: Rajinikanth’s latest film, Vettaiyan, isn’t just a swashbuckling film that is centred around the style factor of the iconic superstar at the centre of things. Unlike his recent spate of films, Rajinikanth has chosen to work in a content-heavy film, which often translates to being preachy but not to a fault. In the TJ Gnanavel directorial, Rajinikanth plays an encounter specialist, who has to come to terms with the fact that a cop shouldn’t play judge and the executioner. With Gnanavel trying to marry the core concept of the film with fan service for the Superstar, Vettaiyan has managed to impress both extremes of the audience spectrum with considerable elan. The film started off strongly in the domestic market with Rs 31.7 crore, and followed it up with Rs 24 crore to take the tally past the Rs 50 crore mark, and end up with Rs 55.7 crore. Now, on the first Saturday of the film’s release, which also marked the festive occasion of Vijayadashami, the film has reportedly made Rs 26 crore to take the 3-day numbers in India to a respectable Rs 81.7 crore. It is fair to assume that the film would enter the Rs 100 crore club in India on Sunday. 

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While the mixed reviews are important factor for the box-office returns, it is also important to note that Rajinikanth films have always been review-proof, and it is best exemplified by the theatre occupancy in not just Tamil Nadu, but also the neighbouring states, including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. However, the numbers from the global box-office doesn’t reflect the popularity of Rajinikanth as there are reports that the distribution of the film in many countries left a lot to be desired. Netizens from many countries urged the makers to facilitate a wider release for not just the Tamil version but the Telugu version too. Rajinikanth’s popularity among the Telugu audience is reflected in the numbers of the Telugu version, which contribute almost 10 per cent of the total collections. 

While Vettaiyan isn’t following the success route of Rajinikanth’s previous film, Jailer, the recent release is a success story of its own. Reports suggest that the Rs 650 crore mark made by Jailer in its theatrical run is a record that will not be in danger from Vettaiyan. The film has already become the movie with the second-biggest opening for a Tamil film after Vijay-Venkat Prabhu’s GOAT. It has already crossed the lifetime domestic collection of the top grossers of the year like Indian 2 and Raayan.

Considering the clash at the Hindi box-office with Alia Bhatt’s Jigra and Rajkummar Rao-Triptii Dimri’s Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, Vettaiyan has been performing underpar with its Hindi version despite having Amitabh Bachchan in a starring role alongside Rajinikanth. 

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On Sunday, things are expected to look up for the multi-starrer featuring Manju Warrier, Kishore, Ritika Singh, Rana Daggubati, and Fahadh Faasil. With a rather uninterrupted run till the end of the month where there would be a barrage of releases for the occasion of Diwali, Vettaiyan might just play the long game and gradually rake in the numbers over the next few weeks.