The verdict is more or less out about the winner of the Thala Ajith and Thalapathy Vijay box office clash this Pongal. Ajith's Thunivu, directed by H Vinoth Kumar, is minting money even with sketchy content because its slick visuals and Hollywood-style narration are wooing the Tamil audience while Vijay's Varisu is heading towards the below average zone because of the predictable emotions in his family drama.
Film industry tracker Manobala Vijayabalan has tweeted that Thunivu has breached the coveted Rs 50 crore mark in Tamil Nadu in three days while Varisu has so far earned Rs 35 crore in three days.
Thunivu has earned Rs 100 crore so far worldwide, said Vijayabalan. He drew comparisons between KGF 2 and Beast, which clashed last year and the Vijay-starrer fell blank in front of the high-octane Yash-starrer.
"Similar to #Beast vs #KGF2, where #Yash thrashed the opponent. Now #AjithKumar is doing the same to #Vijay for the three consecutive days. Despite the agenda group's full time efforts to fail #Thunivu, the movie has BEATEN #Varisu to emerge as the REAL Pongal winner at the BO," tweeted Vijayabalan.
However, Varisu's Telugu dubbed version Vaarasudu seems to be faring better over Thunivu's Telugu dubbed version Thegimpu but the latter is doing well in Karnataka.
"Director H Vinoth’s Thunivu, starring Ajith Kumar, Manju Warrier and John Kokken, is a bank heist thriller with an interesting plot at its core. With a fair share of flaws in the screenplay, Thunivu ends up as a decent flick," said India Today's review.
"Though the film is reminiscent of some Telugu films, Vijay keeps us engaged with his comedy and action," said India Today's review of Varisu.
Ramesh Bala, another trade analyst, said Thunivu crossed $600,000 milestone in North America within three days, the first Ajith Kumar movie to reach this coveted milestone.