Vettaiyan advance booking: Rajinikanth’s film zooms past Rs 10 crore

Superstar Rajinikanth’s upcoming film Vettaiyan showed great promise in the advance bookings. Directed by TJ Gnanavel, the film is said to have raked in Rs 10.96 crore in India. Vettaiyan is a film about extrajudicial killings, which will release in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. The action drama is one of the most anticipated Indian films of 2024.

According to the tracking website, Sacnilk, the Tamil version of Vettaiyan collected Rs 10.2 crore, while the Telugu version earned Rs 74 lakh. The Hindi version minted Rs 93 thousand in the country.

The advance booking for Vettaiyan now stands at Rs 10.9 crore in India. With blcked seats, the advance booking collection amounts to Rs 17.39 crore at the domestic box office.

Here’s the trailer:

With Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan’s star power, Vettaiyan generated a phenomenal pre-release business. Reportedly, the film’s theatrical business is valued at Rs 73 crore. According to reports, Vettaiayan will need to cross Rs 160+ crore share or Rs 300 crore gross worldwide to become a box office hit.

Rajinikanth and director Nelson Dilipkumar’s previous film, Jailer, collected over Rs 600 crore worldwide.

Vettaiyan, directed by TJ Gnanavel, is a film based on extrajudicial killings and the ethical dilemma surrounding it. The film features Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh and Dushara Vijayan in pivotal roles.

In May 2022, it was reported that director T. J. Gnanavel would reunite with Suriya for his next directorial post the critically acclaimed Jai Bhim (2021).^[7][8] Then Suriya stated that if his film with Vetrimaaran, Vaadivaasal, got further delayed due to extensive pre-production works, they would collaborate again.^[9] Production was to begin after Suriya completed his commitments with Bala‘s Vanangaan at that time, but Suriya left Vanangaan due to reported creative differences with Bala.^[7][10] Gnanavel confirmed the reunion in November 2022 during an interview for the occasion. He further stated that he narrated the script to Suriya during the filming of Jai Bhim in 2021, and the actor approved it back then.^[11][12]

In July 2022, director Cibi Chakravarthy, was reported to begin work for his next, which would either star Vijay or Rajinikanth, with the latter being the top contender.^[13] In August, Chakravarthy confirmed that he indeed had begun work for his next directorial but the lead actor was not finalised.^[14] Throughout the year, speculations arose over the collaboration of the director and Rajinikanth and the film was temporarily titled Thalaivar 170.^[15] As Rajinikanth signed a two-film deal with Lyca Productions due to the success of 2.0 (2018), the venture was reported to be produced by Lyca.^[16] In January 2023, Chakravarthy reportedly confirmed the collaboration of him and Rajinikanth.^[17] However, the project failed to materialise and was dropped.^[18]

In January 2023, sources claimed that due to Suriya’s commitments with Siva’s Kanguva and Vetrimaran’s Vaadivaasal, Gnanavel began work on another script. He reportedly narrated it to Rajinikanth, who was impressed by the director and immediately gave his nod.^[18][19] Lyca Productions announced the project on 2 March, tentatively titled Thalaivar 170.^[20] The project was planned to start after Rajinikanth wrapped up Jailer (2023) and Lal Salaam (2024).^[21] A muhurat puja was held on 4 October in Thiruvananthapuram in the presence of the cast and crew.^[22]

The film was made on a budget of ₹160 crore (US$19 million).^[2] Anirudh Ravichander would score the music, in his maiden collaboration with Gnanavel.^[23] On 4 October 2023, the technical crew including cinematographer S. R. Kathir, editor Philomin Raj and stunt choreography duo Anbariv were announced to have been retained by Gnanavel, after they previously worked in Jai Bhim.^[24][25] Art director K. Kathir, make-up artist Pattanam Rasheed and costume designer Anu Vardhan were chosen as crew.^[22][26] The official title Vettaiyan was announced on 12 December 2023, coinciding with Rajinikanth’s 73rd birthday.^[27][28]

Rajinikanth was reported to star as a Muslim police officer.^[29][30] In June 2023, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan joined the cast,^[31] making his debut in Tamil cinema, as well as in his reunion with Rajinikanth after Hum (1991).^[32][33] Bachchan was initially set to make his Tamil debut with Uyarndha Manidhan; however due to issues between him and the producer, that film got shelved.^[34] Fahadh Faasil was signed for a comic dynamic role,^[35] in his fifth Tamil film.^[36]

Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh and Dushara Vijayan play the female leads,^{[37][38][39][40]} and Rana Daggubati was chosen for a prominent role in the film.^[41] The actresses were announced on 2 October 2023, while Daggubati was announced the day after, by the production house.^[42][35] Rakshan and G. M. Sundar‘s presence at the muhurat puja confirmed their inclusion.^[43] Rohini, Rao Ramesh, and Ramesh Thilak were later confirmed to be a part of the cast.^[44]

Principal photography was scheduled to begin on the third week of September 2023 in Chennai,^[45] but ultimately began on 4 October in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.^[46] Production moved to Tirunelveli on 11 October.^[47] In late October, the second schedule began filming in Mumbai, with Rajinikanth and Bachchan.^[48] The schedule concluded by 30 October.^[31] On 20 November, the filming began at Prasad Labs, Chennai.^[49] During this schedule, as Indian 2 was filming in the same studio, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan met at the studio and posted videos and pictures to social media, which went viral.^[50] In early December, Singh, through her social media, stated that she would take a break from filming as she injured herself during the filming of her portions.^[51]

A leaked picture of Rajinikanth and Faasil, taken by paparazzi, was posted to X (formerly Twitter),^[52] where the film’s social media security partner removed the picture from the social media and warned the users not to post or else they would lose their account.^[53][54] After a short break for Pongal, filming resumed in Puducherry.^[55] That schedule concluded by mid-January 2024. The final schedule began on 28 January in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh.^[56] Rajinikanth, on 10 February, stated that 80% filming was done.^[57] In early March, production moved to Hyderabad, and Daggubati began filming his portions on 4 March.^[58][59] Filming of Rajinikanth’s portions ended on 13 May 2024,^[60] while overall filming ended in late August.