Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan has performed remarkably at the box office in its first six days. Released on October 10, the cop drama crossed the Rs 100-crore mark in just four days. Vettaiyan continues to do well in the cinemas and collected Rs 4.25 crore on Tuesday, according to Sacnilk. The film had an overall 18.34% Tamil occupancy on the second Tuesday. Directed by T. J. Gnanavel, the man behind hit films like Jai Bhim, Vettaiyan takes a hard look at police encounters and the privatisation of education in India. Produced by Lyca Productions, Vettaiyan features Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, Manju Warrier, Dushara Vijayan and Ritika Singh in key roles.
The presence of Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan together on screen makes Vettaiyan a delightful prospect for film buffs. Both the icons of Indian cinema have earlier worked together in films such as Andha Kanoon, Geraftaar and Hum. Rajinikanth has often talked about his fondness for Big B and referred to him as an inspiration. Amitabh Bachchan couldn’t attend the audio launch event for Vettaiyan, but he did send a touching video message. In the voice message, he recalled an incident from the sets of their film Hum, and talked about Rajinikanth’s humble nature. Amitabh Bachchan said, “I used to rest in my AC vehicle while shooting for Hum, and Rajini slept on the floor during breaks. Watching him be so simple, I came out of the vehicle and rested outside”.
Vettaiyan is Amitabh Bachchan’s debut in Tamil films and he expressed his gratitude to work with the “supreme of all stars,” Rajinikanth. Big B added, “Vettaiyan is my first Tamil film. I’m very honoured. Rajinikanth is the supreme of all stars.”
At the film’s audio launch event, Rajinikanth also talked about his friendship with Big B. He recalled when Amitabh Bachchan was going through a financial crisis and approached Yash Chopra asking for work. That’s how we got the legendary Narayan Shankar of Mohabbatein. Rajinikanth said, “One day, he walked to Yash Chopra’s house wearing a monkey cap because he no longer had a driver, as he couldn’t pay them. He asked Yash [Chopra] for work. Yash immediately brought a signed cheque and gave it to him, but Amitji declined, saying he would take it only if he was given work. And thus, he received Mohabbatein. Soon, he also got KBC.”