"Petta" of Rajinikanth and "Viswasam" of Ajith were released during the Pongal holidays. Pongal is the biggest holiday in TamilNadu and is celebrated by the Tamil diaspora all over the world.
This time two blockbuster films were released, and after 13 days the box office report is out. Rajinikanth's Film surpasses Ajith's film in the international market by a significant margin though on the home turf both are almost neck to neck. Business Today has reported that Rajini's film has grossed double of Ajith's film overseas.
International circuit
On the international circuit and also outside Tamilnadu nobody can surpass Rajinikanth whose last six films have been big hits, grossing more than Rs 100 crores (£10.5 million).
His film has collected almost double the amount collected by Ajith's film. This is not achieved by any of the Mumbai stars including Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Both these actors last two films were flops.
On the domestic scene, both movies "Petta" and "Viswasam" made the most of the Pongal holidays. The biggest market in Tamilnadu is Chennai, and "Viswasam" collected Rs 10.02 crores (a little less than 1 million GBP) while "Petta" made slightly more at Rs12.5 crores (roughly 1 million GBP).
#Petta vs #viswasam 11days Overseas collection pic.twitter.com/9JJzmC1ujJ
— Gokul as K A A L I (@sgokul7) January 23, 2019
Rajinikanth
"Petta" proved Rajinikanth is the king. The film is directed by Karthik Subbaraj.
It also starred Mumbai actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vijay Sethupati and Trisha. On the other hand, Ajith's film was directed by Siva and also starred Nayanthara, Anikha, and Vivek. Both the films have slick production values and have appealed to the Tamil diaspora and even to those who are not Tamil speaking. The Indian Express has reported that Ajith's film has done well in the face of "Petta."
Rajinikanth is the bigger draw, and the Hindi audiences identify him as the number 1 star from South India.
His "2.0" with Akshay Kumar made a great opening and is another blockbuster hit having garnered over Rs 170 crores (£18.2 million).
Politics
Rajinikanth has been toying with the idea of entering politics but unlike the other star to have entered politics - Kamala Hassan whose last few films have not set the Thames on fire at the box office, Rajinikanth's films are loved by his fans and churning in money.
He is thus dithering on joining politics, and perhaps he may not enter for quite some time as he has signed fresh films. Incidentally, Kamala Hassan's political career has not taken off, and his dream of donning the mantle of MGR and Jayalalitha may not materialize.
Rajinikanth and future
Tamil cinema is alive and kicking as proved with success at the box office of these two films. Rajinikanth is well over 60, but this has not affected his popularity and fans of all ages love him. Rajinikanth might well be contemplating doing an MGR, but the success of his films at the box office has made him have a double mind.