Sivakarthikeyan's Hero makes Rs 10.5 cr in Tamil Nadu over opening weekend; Thambi grosses Rs 1.06 cr in Chennai

Amid good anticipation from the audience and the Kollywood trade, Sivakarthikeyan-starrer  _Hero_  and Karthi-starrer  Thambi  released in theaters last Friday, 20 December. Both the films earned fairly good reviews too and the general feeling was that both the films would rake in the moolah and end the year with a bang for the industry. But contrary to all expectations, Hero and Thambi have struggled at the box office, with the former in particular posting numbers far below the high expectations.

Though Hero leads Thambi in total gross collections as of now, the latter is fast reducing the gap as it is sustaining better after the opening weekend. Thambi can be expected to eventually take the lead and finish above Hero, as it is a more family-friendly film and hasn’t polarized the audience in extremes like Hero has.

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[caption id=“attachment_7832371” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Stills from Hero (left) and Thambi. Images from Twitter[/caption]

After the opening 3 days, Hero, directed by PS Mithran of Irumbu Thirai fame, has grossed around Rs 10.6 crore in Tamil Nadu, with Thambi managing a cumulative total of close to Rs 6.5 crore. The numbers are worrying and not what you would expect from established heroes like Sivakarthikeyan and Karthi, that too after blockbusters such as Namma Veettu Pillai and Kaithi, respectively. Unless there is a miraculous turnaround this year-end, Hero will end up as a disappointing outing for Sivakarthikeyan.

In Chennai city, Hero grossed Rs 1.64 crore after its opening 3 days, while Thambi grossed Rs 1.06 crore. On Monday and Tuesday though, Thambi (with 22 lakhs and 28 lakhs respectively) took the lead over Hero (with 21 lakhs and 24 lakhs correspondingly) and is expected to quickly reduce the gap in gross collections. At the end of the opening 5 days, Hero has grossed Rs 2.09 crore in the city, with Thambi at Rs 1.56 crore.

Outside Tamil Nadu, the story is similar for both the films. In Karnataka, Hero could gross only Rs 80 lakhs approximately in its opening 3 days while Thambi grossed Rs 75 lakhs. In Kerala, despite director Jeethu Joseph’s brand value, Thambi has struggled to mint money at the ticket window.

Karthi is coming from the career-best success of Kaithi (Khaidi in Telugu); though Thambi will finish far lower than Kaithi in terms of box office revenue, it won’t end up as a disaster like Dev earlier in the year. If Thambi can continue holding its ground, it may end up as an above-average performer at least in the home state. The low opening has already seriously hurt its eventual box office verdict as per trade pundits.

Coming to Tollywood,  _Venky Mama_  opened really well last week and then saw average holds in the following days. The final verdict of the film isn’t certain yet. 20 December’s new release, _Prati Roju Pandaage (_PRP) has opened on a promising note and also held on really well during the weekdays. PRP looks like a potential super hit for Tollywood as the year draws to a close. The film took a worldwide theatrical share of Rs 10.5 crore after its opening 3 days, with Rs 9 crore share coming from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The film is also doing well in Karnataka and the USA; it’s already the career-best grosser for lead hero Sai Dharam Tej in the US and has the potential to cross the half-million-dollar gross mark.

Prati Roju Pandaage has also earned the praise of many popular Telugu heroes, with the likes of Prabhas, Ram Charan and Allu Arjun waxing eloquent about the film on their social media platforms.