Ajith Kumar’s Valimai, which hit theatres on Thursday after much anticipation, has had a dream start in Tamil Nadu, collecting around Rs 25 crore and registering the highest ever opening in the state.
The H Vinoth directorial beat the record previously set by Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe (2021) by a little more than a crore rupees.
Valimai also grossed Rs 5 crore in the rest of the country, managing to earn an all-India total of Rs 30 crore on the opening day, as per a Box Office India report.
According to Pinkvilla, the action drama was released in around 565 theatres in Tamil Nadu and it grossed Rs 3.30 crore in North and South Arcot, Rs 3.20 crore in Madurai – Ramanathapuram, Rs 2.50 crore in Trichy-Tanjore, Rs 2.30 crore in Salem and Rs 1.60 crore in Tirunelveli – Kanyakumari on the first day.
The Hindi version of the film, however, saw limited collections on Thursday.
Despite the opening day record, Box Office India reports that there has been a huge drop in Valimai’s collections on Day 2 (Friday). This is comparable to the box office numbers for Annaatthe, which had likewise fizzled after a huge opening.
Valimai was one of the most highly-anticipated films in Ajith’s career. Prior to its release, the film’s worldwide pre-booking earnings (approximately Rs 96 crore) had already bested the numbers of Ajith’s 2017 film Vivegam.
Recommended
Directed by filmmaker H Vinoth and produced by Boney Kapoor under his Bayview Projects banner in association with Zee Studios, the film was previously scheduled to release in theatres in January for Pongal. However, it was postponed due to a rise in Covid-19 cases.
The film finally released in theatres on Thursday and is currently playing in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada. Apart from Ajith Kumar, Valimai also stars Huma S Qureshi, Karthikeya, Bani, Sumithra, Achyunth Kumar, Yogi Babu, Raj Ayyappa, and Pugazh.
After Valimai, Ajith, Vinoth and Kapoor are set to collaborate once again for a film that is tentatively referred to as AK61.