Darbar becomes Rajinikanth's fifth film to hit Rs 200 cr; Ala Vaikunthapurramloo, Sarileru Neekevvaru make Rs 100 cr each

All major Pongal releases from the south have settled down after their opening rush. While there is no clear winner in Kollywood as both Darbar and Pattas have performed to their potential, the Telugu industry has been blessed with two solid blockbusters in the form of Ala Vaikunthapurramloo and Sarileru Neekevvaru.

If compared, Allu Arjun and Trivikram Srinivas's Ala Vaikunthapurramloo is the bigger winner, but both films have brought immense joy to all the stakeholders; both teams have also celebrated their success in an extravagant manner. The post-release marketing and promotions for both films have been frenetic. There is an intense one-upmanship battle between the two teams in an effort to portray their respective film as the bigger box office grosser. Hence, fans of both Arjun and Mahesh Babu are indulging in nasty exchanges and dirty hashtags on social media.

A still from Rajinikanth's Darbar

Ala Vaikunthapurramloo and Sarileru Neekevvaru have earned a worldwide theatrical share of more than Rs 100 crore each. It is a career-best success for both heroes, Arjun and Mahesh, respectively. Ala Vaikunthapurramloo is setting non-Baahubali records in many territories, including the US where it is certain that the film will race past the lifetime gross of films like Mahesh's Bharat Ane Nenu and Ram Charan's Rangasthalam. The film is expected to grab the coveted third spot between Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion. Ala Vaikunthapurramloo has already grossed more than $3 million there and may even hit the $4 million mark if it sustains well during weekdays and the upcoming weekend.

Director Anil Ravipudi's Sarileru Neekevvaru has proven to be a massive success for Mahesh, who made his return to the masala genre with this film and extended his dream run kickstarted with Bharat Ane Nenu in 2018, followed by Maharshi last year. Arjun has also obviously bagged his biggest blockbuster so far with Ala Vaikunthapurramloo, and the film looks set to cross the lifetime worldwide gross numbers of Rangasthalam and maybe even Chiranjeevi's magnum opus Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.

Coming to the Kollywood's Pongal releases, Darbar has grossed more than Rs 200 crore in worldwide theatrical sales after its second weekend, with Tamil Nadu contributing a gross of around Rs 83 crore after 11 days. The film has also done well in Karnataka and the Telugu states apart from the excellent showing in some key overseas markets. Darbar is the fifth double century worldwide grosser for Rajinikanth after Enthiran, Kabali, 2.0, and Petta. Chennai city has been particularly good for Darbar, where it grossed Rs 13.66 crore after 12 days and may cross Bigil’s lifetime Chennai gross (Rs 14.01 crore) soon. Darbar has the potential to surpass the Rs 15 crore gross mark in Chennai and grab a spot among the all-time top five grossers in the city.

Dhanush-starrer Pattas has earned close to Rs 23 crore in Tamil Nadu within five days of its opening. The action-drama has witnessed a usual drop on its first Monday and may not have a very long run in theaters. It has already bettered the lifetime numbers of Dhanush’s recent Enai Noki Paayum Thota, but the levels of Asuran look beyond reach. The consensus is that Pattas has made the most of the Pongal holidays in all major release centers across the state.

This coming Friday will have the next set of releases — Disco Raja in Telugu, and Psycho and Taana in Tamil. The show count of the Pongal releases will definitely be impacted, but they will still continue to play in a substantial number of screens. The eventual box office verdict of Darbar and Pattas’ will be known very clearly by the end of next weekend.