Pattas vs Bigil: Dhanush, Vijay's films with double roles to clash after eight years on Diwali

The first look of Dhanush’s action entertainer Pattas (cracker) was unveiled on his birthday. Though the producers have not officially announced the release date, industry sources say that they are planning for a grand Diwali release. It is well known that actor Vijay’s sports action entertainer Bigil is also scheduled to release for Diwali.

Looking back at the recent Diwali releases of Vijay, no big films dared to compete with him considering his huge box office pull but going by the reports, it looks like this Diwali is going to be really exciting as both Bigil and Pattas are gearing up for an epic clash.

In the past, Dhanush and Vijay had tested their box office mettle on many occasions. The first-ever box office battle happened between both the actors was in 2005 — Vijay’s mass action entertainer  Thirupaachi  and Dhanush’s romantic comedy  Devathaiyai Kanden  competed at Pongal. While  Thirupaachi  was a blockbuster,  Devathayai Kanden  was also a hit at the box office. In the same year, Vijay’s rural action potboiler  Sivakasi  and Dhanush’s romantic drama  Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam  clashed at Diwali. The former was a runaway hit but the latter went out theaters without any trace.

Later, Dhanush’s gangster action drama Polladhavan clashed with Vijay’s commercial action entertainer Azhagiya Tamil Magan at Diwali 2007. The Dhanush-starrer outperformed Vijay’s film and turned out to be a memorable film in the actor’s career. Two years later, Dhanush’s comedy action entertainer  Padikkathavan  and Vijay-Prabhu Deva’s  Villu  clashed at 2009 Pongal. Though  Padikkathavan  and  Villu  received negative reviews, the Dhanush-starrer was declared as a hit at the box office while Villu’s disastrous failure raised serious doubts on the star power of Vijay.  

Again in 2011, Vijay’s romantic action comedy  Kaavalan  and Dhanush’s rural action drama  Aadukalam  clashed at the big Pongal festival weekend. As Vijay was going through a rough phase with a series of flops, the actor had to compensate the losses of his previous films to release  Kaavalan  which went on to become a decent hit. On the other hand, Sun Pictures bombarded  Aadukalam  in a large number of screens. The film fetched National Award for Dhanush and it also worked well at the box office.

Statistics clearly say that Dhanush’s films have comparatively performed better in the previous clashes with Vijay’s films. But after  Kaavalan,  Vijay’s star graph reached a new level with massive blockbusters like Thuppakki, Kaththi, Theri, and Mersal. Several other big stars opted not to clash with him.

When Firstpost asked Durai Senthilkumar, the director of  Pattas,  on the ongoing reports on his film scheduled to release for Diwali, he was tight-lipped and added that he does not know about the release plans.

Interestingly, both Vijay and Dhanush will be seen playing a dual role (father and son) in Bigil and Pattas. Sneha and Mehreen Pirzada will be seen as the two female leads in  Pattas,  while Nayanthara plays the romantic interest of the younger Vijay in Bigil.

All images from Twitter.