Adithya Varma tops Tamil Nadu box office; Vijay's Bigil pulls in Rs 80 cr distributor share in state

Dhruv Vikram’s  Adithya Varma  has topped the Chennai city and Tamil Nadu (TN) box-office for the weekend of 22-24 November. The film, which is an official remake of Telugu blockbuster  Arjun Reddy  starring Vijay Deverakonda in the lead role, is directed by Gireseeya, who worked as a co-director in the original version. Adithya Varma has pulled in a good opening weekend total of Rs 6.86 crore in three days in TN. With close to Rs 98 lakhs from Chennai alone, the film produced by E4E Entertainment topped the city box-office chart in its opening weekend. Disney’s animated fantasy drama  Frozen 2  came at the second spot in Tamil Nadu box-office, unseating the long-standing blockbusters in Thalapathy Vijay’s  Bigil , Karthi’s  Kaithi , and other lukewarm holdover films such as Vijay Sethupathi’s Sanga Tamizhan, and Vishal’s  Action . Bigil has sailed past the Rs 80 crore distributor share mark in Tamil Nadu, making it Vijay’s first-ever in the Rs 80 cr club, a feat which no other actor in Kollywood has achieved yet. The running theatrical takings of the Atlee-directed sports drama stands at a whopping Rs 142.5 crore. It must be noted that Bigil is the first Tamil movie to sprint past the Rs 140 crore gross mark in theatrical revenue in Tamil Nadu. It’s also the second movie ever in the state to attain the milestone after filmmaker SS Rajamouli’s box-office behemoth  Baahubali: The Conclusion . [caption id=“attachment_7711391” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Adithya Varma (left) and Bigil. Image via Twitter[/caption] In worldwide theatrical ticket sales, Bigil is inching towards the Rs 300 crore club, and trade pundits estimate that the film might miss the prestigious milestone by a whisker. However, the middling response for other holdover films and new releases has provided some hope for Thalapathy fans, who are eagerly anticipating to celebrate the Rs 300 crore global gross benchmark. “The massive response for Bigil has substantiated the fan base of Vijay in TN and other crucial overseas markets, where the film has shattered a lot of records. Since Karthi’s Kaithi has also done equally well everywhere despite stiff competition from Bigil, the concept of solo festival release will cease to exist in the future. A bevy of films lining up for Pongal 2020 despite Superstar Rajinikanth’s Darbar releasing on the same day is the first sign ascertaining the same,” a Coimbatore-based distributor informs Firstpost.  While Lokesh Kanagaraj’s action thriller Kaithi successfully became the first film for Karthi to touch the Rs 100 crore gross mark in theatrical takings, it couldn’t near the global revenue of Raghava Lawrence’s smash hit Kanchana 3, which remains the third top-grossing film of Kollywood this year after Bigil, Petta , and  Viswasam . “Rajinikanth is the only actor to possess Rs 200 crore domestic grossers from Tamil cinema. Vijay has now joined the league with Bigil, and it’s his first-ever project to attain the feat,” the distributor added. Dhanush’s long-gestating romantic drama Enai Nokki Paayum Thota is finally gearing up to hit screens on 29 December, and it will be the biggest release in the south this week. The film has been taken over by Vels Film International, who has delivered consecutive hits in LKG and Comali this year. Directed by Gautham Menon and starring Megha Akash as the lead heroine, Enai Nokki Paayum Thota ran into a lot of financial trouble and got postponed several times in the past. The album composed by Darbuka Siva is one of the best soundtracks of the year and has kept the buzz alive for the film.