Box Office Wars – Jilla vs Veeram

There were a lot of tense moments in Kollywood prior to the release of Jilla and Veeram on the same day. There has been lot of expectation by the fans and the review of both the movies has been mixed to say the least. However, what matters now is the box office collection more than a critics’ take on the movie.

Jilla, though it received positive reviews, has been pinned to be a painfully long movie. However, the distributors and the producer will not have much to complain about as the movie had an estimated 12 crore opening on the first day!

The Vijay action flick released in over 800 screens in over 10 countries around the globe and grossed a total of 7.3 crores in Tamil Nadu alone. The budget of the movies was 50 crores and though early to predict, one can call it to be a hit already.

Veeram which has been much appreciated and termed as a great family entertainer by the critics and fans alike, grossed a total of 9.3 crores. Though the collection figures are comparatively lesser than Jilla one should take into account, the fact that the movie was shot at a budget of only 40 crores. It had grossed the same amount (7.3 crores) as Jilla in Tamil Nadu and had been screened in 790 screens across 13 countries.

Box Office collections aside, the social media war between the fans of the actors was clearly balanced out before the launch of the movies while the scales slowly tipped in favor of Ajith after the release. Fans bragged a lot about a particular train action sequence which had got the crowd going in most theatres in Tamil Nadu.

All said and done, the winner this Pongal season is not an actor or a movie, but the whole of the Tamil audience with two great movies from two great stars to catch up on at the same time!