The Tamil film VALIMAI did well in Tamil Nadu in week one even though it had dropping collections over the weekdays. The collections of the film were 77 crore in Tamil Nadu while other places added around 15 crore for an all India total of 92 crore nett in 8 days.

The Hindi version was a total disaster with just 2 crore nett in eight days while the Tamil version also did not collect well in Hindi circuits. The second Friday sees the film mainly collecting in Tamil Nadu but the collections are down a lot.

The all India breakdown of the film is as follows.

Tamil Nadu - 77,00,00,000

Nizam/Andhra - 5,00,00,000

Karnataka/Mysore - 5,00,00,000

Kerala - 2,25,00,000

Hindi Circuits - 2,75,00,000 (2 cr Hindi, 0.75 cr Tamil / Telugu)

The collections of the Hindi version over eight days is as follows and the collections were dull across all circuits. There were small B and C centres single screens which had hardly any collections on the weekdays. 

Mumbai - 72,00,000

Delhi/UP- 40,00,000

East Punjab - 12,00,000

Rajasthan - 12,00,000

CP Berar - 18,00,000

CI - 11,00,000

Nizam/Andhra - 6,00,000

Mysore - n/a

Tamil Nadu/Kerala - n/a

West Bengal - 10,00,000

Bihar - 10,00,000

Assam - 4,00,000

Odisha - 6,00,000

After the huge success of PUSHPA: THE RISE - PART 01, there have been a couple of dubbed films from the South which have met with a disastrous fate and this is going to happen most of the time. The likes of RRR and KGF 2 is fine as they have some brand value as one is from the director of BAAHUBALI. So, like the hero of BAAHUBALI got some got some value for his next film so should the director. The first KGF did pretty well in parts and very well on satellite due to which there is some value again here.

South dubbed films in Hindi markets have been releasing for years and in the 80's there was actually a reasonable flow as South films featuring Sridevi, Jaya Prada, Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan were dubbed into Hindi and released. This trend lasted around five years and then slowed down. These were known faces in Hindi circuits so it worked to an extent. Thereafter you would have dubbed releases in the 90's and in the 2000's but lesser than the 80's.

But the responses were generally muted though even then films like APPU RAJA, HINDUSTANI, HUM SE HAI MUQABALA and BOMBAY became HIT films but these were exceptions to the rule just like BAAHUBALI, 2.0, SAAHO and PUSHPA: THE RISE - PART 01.

The trend is pretty much similar now and most will meet a disaster fate. KHILADI grossed around 1.35 crore nett in WEEK one which was lower than the first DAY total of a film like BADHAAI DO. The South guys probably think they can make headway into mass pockets like of Bihar, CI or Rajasthan. But the collections of BADHAAI DO in Patna (biggest centre of Bihar) in one week are more than the lifetime of KHILADI in Bihar and BADHAAI DO is pretty much a disaster itself in Bihar.

This week VALIMAI opened on Thursday and did around 20 lakhs nett though it was a late release in the evening. But the Friday which was a full day was around 35 laks nett which is also nothing. This is a film which broke records in Tamil Nadu but its two days figures in Hindi are less than what GANGUBAI KATHIAWADI does in one day in just Nizam/Andhra. 

The pandemic period has seen huge negativity for the film industry and a sort of perception in media is built up that South films are better. This encourages more films from the South to try their luck and on top BAAHUBALI, 2.0 and SAAHO worked just before the pandemic. But eventually, barring a few exceptions, most of these films are going to meet a disaster fate like KHILADI and VALIMAI.

There were so many films in the South announced for so called pan India releases but now it will become harder to get screens for most of them unless they actually hold some value. These results have come when there is no flow of Hindi releases. So imagine the numbers when you have actual Hindi releases week in week out.

There is no doubt some films from the South will hold potential especially from the Telugu industry but that will only be if there is not over exposure. The results of KHILADI and VALIMAI is actually good thing for the better products with potential as most of these dubbed films will struggle to get a worthwhile release now.

The Tamil film VALIMAI set an all time record by registering the highest opening ever in the state of Tamil Nadu as it beat the figures of the November Diwali release ANNAATTHE by around a little more than 1 crore nett. VALIMAI collected around 25 crore nett apprx in Tamil Nadu. It grossed another 5 crore nett in the rest of India for an all India total of 30 crore nett.

The Hindi version VALIMAI - THE POWER was like a paid preview release yesterday and there were limited collections. Not much can is expected at the box office and the only comparison is another Tamil film MASTER which released early last year and collected around 40 lakhs nett in Hindi on day one with disaster results like 3 lakhs from 100 plus screens in West Bengal. There were no other releases at the time and so, the film managed to get a good release.

VALIMAI is going to be about Tamil Nadu and although the opening day record has come the reports are not encouraging and there is a big drop in collections today (day 2). It was seen on Diwali that ANNAATTHE fizzled out after a huge start. That was on a national holiday; so, the hope here is that the collections have come without a national holiday so they will hold up better.

The apprx top opening days in Tamil Nadu are as follows.

2. Annatthe (2021) - 24 cr

3. Sarkar (2018) - 23 cr

4. Bigil (2019)- 20 cr

5. Kabali (2016) - 19.5 cr

6. Master (2021) - 19.5 cr (50% occupancy rule but many places screened with 100% occupancy)

The Telugu film BHEEMLA NAYAK has also seen a earth shattering opening and the Nizam side of Nizam/Andhra should beat the numbers of PUSHPA: THE RISE - PART 01. The Andhra side has issues with ticket pricing as the local government goes strict with the film as the hero Pawan Kalyan stood up against the state government. Despite the huge start it remains to be seen how it is reflected in the final numbers.

The opening of this film and the others before proves that Pawan Kalyan is the biggest star seen in South India post the heady days of Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi. However, the problem is that after these insane starts, the holds tend to be weak as the films itself are totally star driven and content is probably not so strong. Still the raw star power of this guy cant be denied as it remains intact even after a handful of films not sustaining well at the box office. It remains to be seen if BHEEMLA NAYAK is different and holds after the initial but again the reports are mixed.