By Online Desk Today is certainly a big day for Tamil cinema as an Ajith film and a Rajinikanth film have released together. Ajith starrer 'Viswasam' is the fourth collaboration of the actor with director Siva, while Rajinikanth's Petta is directed by Karthik Subbaraj, who has promised a film packed with "rajini-isms." READ VISWASAM REVIEW | A sprightly Ajith saves this festival The earliest shows for the two films began at 1.00 am on Thursday, and the first reviews and reactions are already been pouring in. While 'Petta' has been appreciated for being a 'typical Rajini film', 'Viswasam' has been praised for being the right mass entertainer that this Pongal season needs. Click here to see our Twitter moments of fan celebrations captured by our photographers. Here are some reactions for Petta from fans and celebrities: Rajinikanth fans celebrate the release of 'Petta' (Photo | EPS/M K Ashok Kumar) #Petta It's pure vintage #SuperstarRajinikanth. The style,swag, mannerism, is back with a bang and strong supporting cast of fine actors -@VijaySethuOffl @Nawazuddin_S pitted against him is a major +. @karthiksubbaraj handles @rajinikanth well & last 15 minutes is WoW! — Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) January 10, 2019 #Petta has its narrative issues, and it is more a Rajini film than a @karthiksubbaraj film, but for a #Rajinikanth fan, it is a celebration of all the things that they have been dying to see Thalaivar do again. In other words, tharamana sambavam — Suganth (@msuganth) January 10, 2019 Interval block... MASSU MARANAM ! Thalaivar @rajinikanth looking SUPER HOT SUPER YOUNG SUPER STYLISH every shot is amazing. @karthiksubbaraj thank yooooo! @sunpictures #petta FDFS pic.twitter.com/JWKgaGaXpf — Kasturi Shankar (@KasthuriShankar) January 10, 2019 No Story No Logic, Only Magic. S U P E R S T A R - M A G I C. After Sivaji, #Petta will be the best fan pleasing movie. Idhu thaan enga THALAIVAR. — Saran Sundar (@saransundar5) January 10, 2019 #petta is EPIC ... superstar .. love you thalaivaaaaa ... tharamaana sambavam senjiteenga. Congrats to the whole team. @karthiksubbaraj ..big big big thank you .. we are indeed #rajinified .. Anirudh .. your best bgm work till date. Petta paraaaaaaak !!!! — Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) January 10, 2019 Here is a video of fans going wild in Tiruchy: On the other hand, here are Twitter reactions for Ajith's 'Viswasam': Ajith fan cheer in front of 'Viswasam' posters as the film releases (Photo | EPS/M K Ashok Kumar) #Viswasam Neatly packaged with all essential ingredients that go into making an enjoyable mass entertainer. Complete #Thala show. — Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) January 9, 2019 #Viswasam BULLS-EYE!!.. A treat to all.. #Ajith sir rocked!Super family entertainer.. Had a blast watching it with fans.. Confirm #Blockbuster!! Congrats to the whole team.. — ArunVijay (@arunvijayno1) January 9, 2019 #Viswasam 2nd half: The father - daughter sentiments and family angle click in a big way. Enough mass moments too, with the much hyped toilet fight totally fulfilling expectations. Mainstream general audience and #ThalaAjith fans will like #Viswasam Wholesome festival film — Kaushik LM (@LMKMovieManiac) January 9, 2019 #Viswasam Interval - Man - The interval block scenes, Ajith fans will lose their throat shouting!! This is the best acting performance of Ajith sir in the past 5 - 6 years! Movie not just meant for fans - but for family audience throughout tamilnadu. Siva has shown his viswasam ! — Prashanth Rangaswamy (@itisprashanth) January 9, 2019 ALSO READ | Meet the Odisha drummers who made Rajini dance to their tune in 'Marana Mass' However, there have also been incidents outside theatres where Ajith fans and Rajini fans clashed. A video from Twitter shows Ajith fans vandalising Rajini posters.<doc-sep>Arunkumar Sekhar By Express News Service CHENNAI: When Baasha released on January 12, 1995, little did fans think it would be almost another 25 years before they got another Pongal release from ‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth. Ajith, who had acted in barely half a dozen films at that time, is now a star in his own right and will be taking on Rajini for the box-office honours this Pongal when his Viswasam releases alongside Petta on Thursday. However the films fare, the release of two big-budget movies on the same day has brought much cheer to the Tamil film industry. Of the 1,000 screens in Tamil Nadu, close to 900 have been allotted to Viswasam and Petta. ALSO READ | Nawazuddin looks South Indian, I'm a big fan: 'Petta' director Karthik Subbaraj “The other 100 screens will be featuring the three Telugu releases and a few English films,” said Tirupur Subramanian, the newly-elected president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association (TNTMOA). Srinivasan, secretary of TNTMOA, handling North Arcot and South Arcot zones, says that Ajith’s Viswasam is edging out Petta by 60-40 outside of the three Cs (Chennai, Chengalpet and Coimbatore). Meanwhile, the industry is also eagerly awaiting the government order that will enable them to add one extra show. As things stand right now, theatres are allowed to show four shows on weekdays and five on weekends. Subramaniam feels that with the extra show, at least 10 per cent more footfalls can be expected, which could turn into a 3-4 per cent increase in revenue. “I do expect though that for both Petta and Viswasam, the first four days (till January 13) will see a lot of hardcore fans coming to the theatres. Only from January 14 will the families start coming in,” he predicts. ALSO READ | I want to leave behind a database of rooted music: D Imman National Award-winning author, producer and trade expert Dhananjayan agrees. “This Pongal is quite special because I don’t think we have, in recent times, seen two big films getting 10 days of free run time. This is unprecedented. Given that big films that release over a festival weekend typically garner 1.5 times the regular returns, I see both Petta and Viswasam getting nothing less than twice the return,” he says. Subramaniam believes theatres will benefit a lot. “It has been a good two months for the business. After the success of 2.0, even though we saw a whole bunch of films coming out for Christmas, theatres still enjoyed a lot of footfalls, thanks to the good content,” he notes. Petta is expected to release in 150-200 screens in Andhra and Telangana. In Kerala too, it seems to have got close to 130 screens. Karnataka has allocated 350 screens for Petta, making it as big a release as any top Kannada film. In Mumbai, given the success of 2.0 and the presence of Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Petta, it is expected to get a good run, at least till the Bal Thackeray biopic releases the following week. In Qatar, pre-booking has started for Petta for 40 shows while Viswasam has bagged 28 shows. However, Viswasam seems to have won in UAE with over 50 shows compared to 40 for Petta. Seventh Sense Cinema, which released Rajinikanth’s 2.0 in Russia, has revealed it will be releasing both Petta and Viswasam in Russia and Ukraine.<doc-sep>No permission yet for special shows of 'Viswasam' and 'Petta' The approval comes in the form of a government order from the Tamil Nadu Government Home Department’s Cinemas division, and has not been granted yet. Flix Kollywood Two big films are hitting the screens on the same date on Thursday - Rajinikanth’s Petta and Ajith’s Viswasam - yet, as of 6.00 pm on Wednesday, the approval for special shows has not been granted. The approval comes in the form of a government order from the Tamil Nadu Government Home Department’s Cinemas division. This approval is required for theatres to schedule special morning shows as is the case for big star films. Speaking to TNM, Ruban, Managing Director of GK Cinemas, says that the demand for these two films ensures that the special show seats will be filled fairly quickly even if the GO comes around 8.00 pm on Wednesday. “We have four shows planned for the first day - 12.00 pm, 3.00 pm, 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm. We will split the shows between our screens - two big screens and two smaller screens. We sold out in 15 minutes for the first day. We have an equal number of shows and seats in all our screens. If we receive the GO even at 8.00 pm, we will plan for special shows,” he says. Rohini Silverscreens in Chennai which witnesses some of the craziest fan shows also put out a tweet clarifying that no 1.00 am show has been planned for Ajith’s Viswasam as rumoured. CLARIFICATION: Unfortunately there are no 1AM shows scheduled for #Viswasam @rohinisilverscr Kindly ignore all rumours. pic.twitter.com/XS7ORTfzvY — Rohini SilverScreens (@RohiniSilverScr) January 9, 2019 The GO not coming through just a day before the film’s release is as a dampener for many fans. But this charade is quite common before the release of any big star films, says a box office tracker from the industry. “This has happened for Vijay films in the past. The order might eventually come through but theatres invariably plan for such special shows based on fan pressure. Festival days can have 5 shows and so even if the order were to come tomorrow, the theatres can have special shows on Day 2 given that it is Pongal holidays. But if you look at the scene in Andhra, for the NTR biopic, the government has allowed 5.00 am special shows,” he adds. Tirupur Subramanium, who handles distribution and exhibition in Coimbatore circle, tells us that most of the theatres will play both Viswasam and Petta in the Coimbatore circle. “They will split the shows 50-50 between their screens, if they play two shows for Petta, they’ll play two shows for Viswasam,” he says. Viswasam and Petta will be the biggest box office clash in Tamil Cinema in a long time. Box office trackers had opined that the films will eat into each other’s collection.<doc-sep>Viswasam movie review: Viswasam will give tough competition to Rajinikanth starrer Petta. Viswasam movie review: Viswasam will give tough competition to Rajinikanth starrer Petta. Ajith starrer Viswasam releases today and the film faces some stiff competition as it releases alongside Rajinikanth’s Petta. Viswasam also stars Nayanthara, Yogi Babu, Vivek, Robo Shankar, Thambi Ramaiah and Kovai Sarala among others. Viswasam’s trailer showcased all the elements of a successful masala film – flying men, dance numbers and a very angry, moustache-twirling Ajith. The actor has teamed up with director Siva for the fourth time after delivering hits like Veeram, Vedalam and Vivegam. Ajith is regarded as the ‘king of openings’ after delivering films like Villain, Citizen, Vaali, Billa, Mankatha and Aarambam. But this time, the film will have to share screens and it is yet to be seen how it affects Viswasam’s opening day collection. Petta director Karthik Subbaraj took to Twitter to wish luck to Viswasam.<doc-sep>
Viswasam box office collection Day 1: Ajith is ready to face a big clash. Viswasam box office collection Day 1: Ajith is ready to face a big clash. Ajith starrer Viswasam released alongside Rajinikanth’s Petta and no one can deny that this clash must have surely divided the audience on the first day of the release. Starring Ajith and Nayanthara, director Siva promised to deliver an entertainer and one can say that he delivered on many accounts. This was Siva’s fourth film with Ajith after Veeram, Vedalam and Vivegam. Ajith is fondly known as ‘king of openings’ but it is surely going to be a challenging affair for the star as he has to battle Rajinikanth’s release on the same day. Indianexpress.com gave Viswasam two stars in its review. “Ajith tries to use his charm to overshadow the fact that the film has no new story to tell. But, we have seen him do it over and over again on Siva’s watch. In spite of his stardom, he can only do so much to sell a film filled with redundant emotions and narrative techniques. The talented star cast comprising Nayanthara, Thambi Durai, Robo Shankar, Kovai Sarala have all been wasted.” The review further said, “In Veeram, Ajith protected his in-laws. In Vedalam, he protected his foster sister. In Vivegam, he saved his pregnant wife. In Viswasam, he protects his daughter. Ajith-Siva should consider saving the audience from bad movies by taking a very long break from each other.” Film analyst-producer-distributor G Dhananjayan had earlier told indianexpress.com, “Both Rajinikanth and Ajith Kumar are brilliant in their own right. Their films have always had a massive opening. For the first time in more than a decade or so, an Ajith film is releasing alongside a Rajinikanth film. I wish there were more films joining the race because Pongal can easily accommodate three films.” Alongside Ajith and Nayanthara, Viswasam also stars Yogi Babu, Vivek, Robo Shankar, Thambi Ramaiah and Kovai Sarala among others.