The big box office battle in Tamil cinema has gone the way of VARISU as it goes ahead of the competition THUNIVU over the holiday period in Tamil Nadu. VARISU was grossing around 1 crore more than THUNIVU over the last few days despite being 2 crore less on day one.

The other markets have seen a comfortable lead for VARISU though in Hindi markets, there is no dubbed version of THUNIVU but the original Tamil film is still around 50 lakhs behind. The best performance is no doubt in Nizam/Andhra where the film has done excellent business over three days and that is despite competition from huge original Telugu films.

The big holiday period is now over in Tamil Nadu and the collections will come down but both have done very well till now in the home market. The all India collections for the first seven days are 80 crore nett apprx for THUNIVU and 108 crore nett for VARISU.

Below is the territory numbers for Thuniva and Varisu..

Tamil Nadu - 65,00,00,000

Nizam/Andhra - 3,00,00,000

Mysore/Karnataka - 7,75,00,000

Kerala - 3,50,00,000

Hindi Circuits - 1,00,00,000

Tamil Nadu - 68,50,00,000

Nizam/Andhra - 15,00,00,000

Mysore/Karnataka - 9,25,00,000

Kerala - 8,50,00,000

Hindi Circuits -  6,75,00,000 (including Tamil version)

The Hindi dubbed Tamil film VARISU managed fair collections on Monday with a drop of just 20% apprx from Friday. The collections are low but its much better comparatively than KUTTEY and the trend is good albeit on very low collections.

The film benefitted on Saturday due to holiday in parts of the country and due to that it remained pretty much flat on Sunday. But on Monday there were decent collections in Gujarat/Saurashtra, CP Berar and Odisha. The latter has clocked up 30 lakh nett in four days which may not sound a lot but the lifetime of ATTACK was just 29 lakhs and a film like CIRKUS will be doing under 50 lakhs. VARISU (Hindi) is sure to cross 50 lakhs nett in Odisha.

The film is being led by Mumbai circuit which is 2 crore nett plus and it has so far grossed around 4.75 crore nett in Hindi. The week should cross the 6 crore nett with many cinemas retaining it till PATHAAN as there are no better options even though occupancy is low

The numbers of VARISU (Hindi) till date are as follows.

Friday - 80,00,000

Saturday - 1,60,00,000

Sunday - 1,65,00,000

Monday - 65,00,000

The two Tamil films THUNIVU and VARISU have good business in the South with the latter coming out on top on all India basis with Tamil Nadu being neck to neck over the first five days. THUNIVU had the lead but got caught on the third day and VARISU went ahead after that.

The best performance comparatively was probably VARISU in Nizam/Andhra where it picked up a solid 9 crore nett over two days. THUNIVU picked up 61 crore nett over the first five days and VARISU collected 77 crore nett.

The level of success for these films depends on the business in Tamil Nadu and they continue in holiday period over the next couple of days and there could even be leftovers after that so are to sure to hold over this period. The films need to be around 90-100 crore in Tamil Nadu for the distributors to cover and the second weekend will probably be crucial for this.

Below are the territory numbers for THUNIVU and VARISU.

Tamil Nadu - 47,00,00,000

Nizam/Andhra - 2,75,00,000

Mysore/Karnataka - 7,00,00,000

Kerala - 3,25,00,000

Hindi Circuits - 1,00,00,000

TOTAL - 61,00,00,000 apprx

Tamil Nadu - 47,25,00,000

Nizam/Andhra - 9,00,00,000

Mysore/Karnataka - 8,50,00,000

Kerala - 7,25,00,000

Hindi Circuits -  5,00,00,000 (including Tamil version)

KUTTEY saw a drop in business on Sunday as it collected 3.25 crore nett over the weekend and Sunday was pretty much similar to the first day which itself was very poor. The collections pretty much reflect the word of mouth and the drop on Sunday shows the total rejection of the film.

There was the holiday factor on Saturday in some parts of the country but that did not really benefit KUTTEY much as the holiday was in mass pockets and collections of Kuttey were minimal. It meant the push on Saturday was from the metros which dropped on Sunday.

The collections of KUTTEY over the weekend are as follows. 

Friday - 1,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,20,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 1,05,00,000 apprx

The Hindi dubbed Tamil film VARISU managed to do decent on Saturday but was flat on Sunday as it collected around 3.75 crore nett over its first weekend. If the film had gone up 20-30% on Sunday or more, it could have been a fair result for the film. 

The film showed strong growth on Saturday where it was a holiday but these places fell on Sunday and other places did not grow enough to compensate the falls here. The film has done decent business in Gujarat/Saurashtra and Odisha with the latter doing better than a bigger circuits like East Punjab and West Bengal. The minor victory is that the film has scored over KUTTEY but overall numbers remain low. VARISU scored much better in the South.

The first weekend numbers of VARISU (Hindi) are as follows.

Friday - 80,00,000

Saturday - 1,50,00,000

Sunday - 1,50,00,000

VARISU (Hindi) has surprisingly done decent business in the Hindi circuits as Saturday business was almost 1.50 crore nett with day one being being around 80 lakhs nett. The jump in business for the film is around 75-80% which is very good.

The film was boosted by the holiday factor in places in Gujarat and Rajasthan as these areas showed big jumps but generally there were healthy gains all barring West Bangal. The original film saw a good jump in Tamil Nadu but that was expected due to the holiday period but in Hindi circuits the holiday on Saturday was limited to certaiin places.

The collections are driven by Mumbai circuit with Central markets also giving good contribution on Saturday. The film was comfortably scoring over the Hindi film KUTTEY on Saturday and even on Friday it was ahead in many circuits. But as there is hardly any contribution from South for the Hindi version the overall collections were a little less than KUTTEY.

The film looked a very run of the mill South film from the trailer for the Hindi audience but these Saturday numbers give it a chance of putting up some respectable numbers though a break out would be the biggest shock ever as the film does not look that good. On top of it, it is city based which don't really do well in the Hindi circuits. Still the expectations were that the film would go a little up on Saturday or remain flat as its a wide release in mass belts and single screens as there is no other content.

The two day business of VARISU (Hindi) is as follows.

Friday - 80,00,000 apprx

Saturday -  1,45,00,000 apprx

The two big Tamil films THUNIVU and VARISU are locked in a tight battle as both films recorded similar collections in the state on Friday. The collections of THUNIVU are 31 crore nett after three days while VARISU is 28.50 crore nett.

Both films are doing well with good occupancy but collections are on the lower side than they have to maybe because the market is getting split. The films need to get a 60-65 crore share in Tamil Nadu and that does look far at the present moment.

The last film of Ajith Kumar, VALIMAI, grossed 82 crore nett in Tamil Nadu while the last film of Vijay, BEAST, did business of 92 crore nett and it remains to be seen where these two films land as compared to those films. If these films don't get the numbers of the above films, it will be because of the competition between them.

The business of THUNIVU and VARISU in Tamil Nadu is as follows. VARISU is leading in all the other circuits but the real battle is in Tamil Nadu as that will decide the fate of both films.

Wednesday - 16.10 cr (20.25 cr)

Thursday - 8.25 cr (10.25 cr) apprx

Friday - 6.75 cr (8.50 cr) apprx

Wednesday - 13.90 cr (17.50 Cr)

Thursday - 7.75 cr (9.50 cr) apprx

Friday - 6.75 cr (8.50 cr) apprx

NOTE - The GROSS numbers are in brackets as the two films had a good interest in the industry and there were the usual very high gross numbers doing the rounds and people asking whether true so apprx GROSS numbers put up for that reason.

The clash of two of the biggest stars in Tamil Nadu is a very tight with the Ajith Kumar starrer THUNIVU holding a slight edge over the first two days though business on the second day was even closer than the first day. It is reported that there have been adjustment of shows and screenings on day two which may have evened things up a bit.

The films opened very well on the first day but collections have come down on day two which was going to happen but the drop maybe on the higher side and it remains to be seen what happens over the next 3 days. The first two days has seen THUNIVU do business of around 24.50 crore nett in Tamil Nadu while VARISU is around 22 crore nett

The business of both films in Tamil Nadu is as follows. 

Wednesday - 16.10 cr (20.25 cr)

Thursday - 8.25 cr (10.25 cr) apprx

Wednesday - 13.90 cr (17.50 Cr)

Thursday - 7.75 cr (9.50 cr) apprx

NOTE - The GROSS numbers are in brackets as the two films had a good interest in the industry and there were the usual very high gross numbers doing the rounds and people asking whether true so apprx GROSS numbers put up for that reason.