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Varisu Vs Thunivu: After screens, debate ensues over BO collections

Producer Dil Raju’s claim that the Vijay-starrer pipped the Ajith-starrer drew criticism from Kollywood trade circles.

Ayyappa Prasad

Published Jan 20, 2023 | 3:59 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 20, 2023 | 3:59 PM

Varisu Thunivu box office (1)

Vijay in 'Varisu' and Ajith in 'Thunivu'. (Twitter)

Kollywood trade circles are disputing the claims of producer Dil Raju that Vijay’s Varisu beat Thunivu in box office collections within Tamil Nadu and also overseas.

Tirupur Subramanian, president of Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners and Multiplex Association, raised an objection to Raju’s claim that Varisu collected ₹210 crore in seven days.

Subramanian, who controls the majority of screens in Coimbatore, said that Dil Raju exaggerated the figures, given the number of theatres where the two films are being screened.

“Raju gave away the top five areas of Tamil Nadu to Red Giant Movies. Then, how can he be so sure about the collections?” he asked.

The industry circles stated that Thunivu grossed ₹93 crore in nine days, of which Tamil Nadu’s share was ₹91 crore.

Meanwhile, Varisu collected ₹131 crore worldwide for the same period, of which ₹106 crore was from Tamil Nadu alone.

Varisu took a lead over Thunivu in Karnataka and Kerala, where the Tamil prints were screened; the Telugu version earned ₹16 crore and Hindi collected ₹5.84 crore.

OTT streaming

Now, the battle seems to have shifted to the OTT platform as fans say that Ajith’s films broke records in viewership.

Ajith’s Thunivu will stream on Netflix from 10 February.

Zee Studios, which co-produced the film along with Boney Kapoor, gave away the OTT rights to the international giant.

Netflix also acquired the streaming rights of Ajith’s forthcoming flick AK62, Dhanush’s bilingual Sir/Vaathi, and Pa Ranjith-Vikram’s Thangalaan.

However, speculations are rife that Varisu will be released the same week on Amazon Prime, which acquired the digital rights of the Vijay-starrer.

Similarly, Vijay’s films are usually telecast on Star Vijay and its sister TV channels.

But, this time, Kalaignar TV — owned by Udhaynidi Stalin, who grabbed five distribution areas for Varisu — is likely to telecast it.

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