When it comes to international box office, it is difficult to surpass a Rajinikanth release. So when Petta clashed with Viswasam, the international box office battle was slightly different from the domestic one. In the domestic box office, both the movies made the most out of the Pongal holidays and set the cash registers ringing. While both Petta and Viswasam earned rather well in the overseas markets, Rajinikanth's movie surpassed Ajith's by a significant margin.
To begin with, Singapore, Petta made Rs 6.38 crore in 11 days, while Viswasam made Rs 3.83 crore. In Sri Lanka, Petta managed Rs 3.02 crore and Viswasam made Rs 2.50 crore. In Malaysia Viswasam made more than Petta in the second week but overall, Rajinikanth's movie's Rs 12.52 crore surpassed Ajith's movie's Rs 9.18 crore.
Overall, Viswasam made Rs 33.8 crore from across the world in 11 days, while Petta made more than its double with a collection of Rs 69 crore.
At the home turf, the box office war has been a close one. In Chennai, Viswasam made Rs 10.02 crore while Petta made Rs 12.50 crore as mentioned by trade analyst Ramesh Bala.
Both Petta and Viswasam utilised the Pongal holidays to the fullest and set the box office on fire. Rajinikanth's movie is inching towards the Rs 200 crore mark at the worldwide box office, as is Ajith's Viswasam.
"Pongal is one of the biggest festivals in the state that brings the family audience to theaters, yielding a good box-office collection, especially in rural areas. In fact, it is an 11-day holiday period (till January 20, Sunday) for most of us," said film analyst G Dhananjayan to indianexpress.com.
Along with Rajinikanth, Petta, directed by Karthik Subbaraj also stars Vijay Sethupathi, Simran, Trisha, M Sasikumar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Ajith's Viswasam, directed by Siva, also stars Nayanthara, Jagapathi Babu, Anikha and Vivek.
(Edited by Anwesha Madhukalya)
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