Thunivu or Varisu?
This is the most sought-after debate in Tamil Nadu as fans of top Tamil heroes, Ajith Kumar, and Vijay, get ready for the much-awaited clash at the box office this Pongal season.
Ajith’s Thunivu (Brave) and Varisu (heir) by Vijay will storm into theatres across the globe on January 12, days before the Pongal festivities begin. This is for the first time in nine years that films of the two biggest grossers of the Tamil film industry are releasing around the same time, sending their fans into a frenzy.
The actors clashed at the box office last in 2014 when Ajith’s Veeram and Vijay’s Jilla which had Malayalam superstar Mohanlal too released on January 10 and January 9 respectively. And this is the 13th time the two actors will fight for space in theatres after they began their careers in the film industry in the 1990s.
Thunivu, bankrolled by Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor, is directed by H Vinoth, while Varisu is helmed by Telugu director Vamshi Paidipally and produced by Sri Venkateswara Creations and PVP Cinema.
Vijay and Ajith maintain they are friends, but their fans consider them as rivals and have already begun trending about their favourite stars on social media platforms. Another reason for the interest in the box office clash is the actors’ movies released in 2022 – Beast (Vijay) and Valimai (Ajith) – didn’t do well and fans hope the Pongal release will make up for the disappointment.
Film critic Vetrivel K told DH that the expectation for the two films is “sky high” as the two stars will compete with each other directly after nine years during which the way films are received by audiences has undergone a tremendous change in the past few years, especially with the advent of social media.
There is also excitement about the two stars clashing with each other with theatre owners hoping that they would bring huge crowds to cinema halls even as the industry is slowly limping back to normalcy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both actors didn’t go for any promotional activities for their Pongal release, even though their senior in the tinsel town, Kamal Haasan, travelled across the globe to promote his film, Vikram, earlier this year.
While Ajith kept to himself as usual, Vijay at least met his fans at his palatial bungalow on the East Coast Road twice in the past month.
Thunivu will be distributed by Red Giant Pictures, one of the most influential film companies owned by the DMK’s first family, while it has bagged the rights for only a couple of centres for Varisu in Tamil Nadu.
Industry watchers said both films will get an equal number of theatres this Pongal and expressed the hope that there won’t be any issues on the release day with Thunivu being distributed by a powerful company.
Vetrivel said the poor response to the 2021 Rajinikanth-starrer Annathae should ring “alarm bells” in the camps of Ajith and Vijay that thinking out of the box is necessary for the success of a film, he said.
“While Thunivu is expected to be an action film, Varisu will be a family drama. Ultimately, the content will decide the winner,” Vetrivel said. But, the film critic said, both actors should try something different.
“Audience now expects not just storyline, but grandeur as displayed in films like Bahubali, KGF, and RRR. Ponniyin Selvan did well only in Tamil and not in other languages. The two should make their films successful across India,” he added.