Rajinikanth's film Vettaiyan has been performing well at the box office. After a good opening, the movie entered the Rs 100 crore club in four days. On its first Monday, Vettaiyan saw a dip in its box office collections. The film garnered ₹5.25 crore on October 14, reported Sacnilk. The action-drama saw an overall 63.81% Tamil occupancy. Vettaiyan's total collection now stands at 110 crore. Directed by TJ Gnanavel, Vettaiyan's star cast includes Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Manju Warrier, Kishore, Ritika Singh, Fahadh Faasil and Rana Daggubati. The cop drama focuses on encounter killings and corruption in the education sector. The film has been released in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada.
Vettaiyan marks Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth's much-awaited on-screen reunion after 33 years. The duo last worked together in the 1991 film Hum. At the audio launch of Vettaiyan, Amitabh Bachchan sent a video message for Rajinikanth. In the message, Big B shared an anecdote from the sets of their film Hum. The actor praised Rajinikanth for his humble and down-to-earth nature. He 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,” Amitabh Bachhan said as quoted by India Today.
Amitabh Bachchan also mentioned he feels "honoured" to work with the "supreme of all stars," Rajinikanth, in his Tamil debut. He said, “Vettaiyan is my first Tamil film, I'm very honoured. Rajinikanth is the supreme of all stars.”
Rajinikanth also talked about the time Big B went through a financial crisis. The actor shared how Amitabh Bachchan had to sell his Juhu home and ended up working 18 hours a day to pay off his debts.
“For three years, despite having many health issues, he worked for 18 hours a day and cleared all his dues. Not just that he bought back the old house, he bought a total of three houses in that same lane. That's Amitabh Bachchan! He is 82 now and still works for 10 hours a day,” added Rajinikanth.
Vettaiyan is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah's Lyca Productions. The pan-India faced stiff competition at the box office from Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, starring Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri, as well as Alia Bhatt's Jigra. Both these movies were released on October 11.