Rs 460 crore and counting at box office: Sankranti festival strikes gold for South films

'Varisu', Thunivu', 'Waltair Veerayya' and 'Veera Simha Reddy' set the South Indian box office on fire.

Chennai, Jan 17: South Indian film industry probably had its best days since the Covid-19 hit the world as this Sankranti festival has brought joy to exhibitors and distributors with cine-goers flooding theatres like pre-pandemic days. Thanks to big releases, the audience thronged to watch the movies of stars like Vijay, Ajith, Balakrishna and Chiranjeevi.

'Varisu' vs 'Thunivu' Clash
In Kollywood, the movies of Ajith and Vijay, considered as rivals by their fans, locked horns at the box office in the form of 'Thunivu' and 'Varisu'. The last such clash occurred nine years ago when 'Veeram' took on 'Jilla'. Both the films were released on the same day. Despite being a working day, the Tamil movies managed to pull the audience to theatres.

Although no fresh records were set, the combined collection of both the movies was over Rs 45 crore alone from Tamil Nadu on day one.

On the other side, Balakrishna's 'Veera Simha Reddy' took on Chiranjeevi's 'Waltair Veerayya' at the box office. Like Ajith and Vijay, the Telugu stars are considered as rivals by their fans. However, the films hit the screens with one day gap as distributors did not want to lose business due to the clash.

Even these two films took a good opening. While 'Veera Simha Reddy' earned Rs 48 crore on the opening day, 'Waltair Veerayya' earned close to Rs 50 crore at the worldwide box office, as per the trade reports.

Despite mixed reviews, the four big movies have kept the cash registers ringing. While Tamil movies 'Varisu' and 'Thunivu' have done a business of Rs 250 crore together, the Telugu flicks have done around Rs 210 crore. It means the four movies have brought over Rs 460 crore business for the South Indian film industry.

Thus, Sankranthi festival has struck gold for the South Indian film industry.