Petta Box Office Collection Day 8: Rajinikanth\'s film faring well but Ajith\'s Viswasam overtakes in Tamil Nadu

Petta Box Office Collection Day 8: Rajinikanth's film faring well but Ajith's Viswasam overtakes in Tamil Nadu

Petta Box Office: Rajinikanth's film is doing well despite competition from Ajith's Viswasam that is ruling the Tamil Nadu box office. 

Box office collection of Rajinikanth's Petta has shown once again why the actor is the reigning superstar. Petta that released on the same day as Ajith's Viswasam has been wowing audiences across the country as well as overseas. However, in Tamil Nadu, Petta is running behind Viswasam. That does not mean that Rajinikanth's movie is not doing well in the state; in fact quite the contrary. Karthik Subbaraj's movie has fully utilised the Pongal holidays in the state to set the cash registers ringing.

According to reports Petta is inching towards the Rs 100-crore mark in Tamil Nadu box office. Collecting such a big amount from a single state is no mean feat but Ajith's Viswasam did one better in this case. Viswasam made Rs 125 crore from Tamil Nadu alone.

Petta is expected to make it to Rs 100 crore in the coming weekend. When it comes to overseas box office Rajinikanth's charm is working in its favour.  The film has made Rs 65 crore so far from abroad, while Viswasam is far mehind. Making it to the Rs 200-crore club, in terms of worldwide collections, seems like a very easy affair.     

Before the release of the movie, Karthik Subbaraj had promised to get the vintage Rajinikanth back on screen. He seems to have fulfilled his promise with Petta. "I wanted to show his style on screen. I wanted to watch it on screen. I was not only a fan but a director too who was watching his idol performing. Every moment was great," the director had said.

Both Petta and Viswasam were released just in time for Pongal/Sankranthi holidays. As hoped, their gamble paid off and both the films are earning the big bucks in the box office. "Pongal is one of the biggest festivals in the state that brings the family audience to theaters, yielding a good box-office collection, especially in rural areas. In fact, it is an 11-day holiday period (till January 20, Sunday) for most of us," said film analyst G Dhananjayan to indianexpress.com.

Along with Rajinikanth, Petta stars Vijay Sethupathi, Simran, Trisha, M Sasikumar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

(Edited by Anwesha Madhukalya)