Bigil is a big budget sports-drama featuring Vijay in the lead role, whereas Kaithi is a small budget intense thriller flick with Karthi playing the hero.
Box office trackers revealed in Twitter that Bigil raked in over Rs 100 crore in Tamil Nadu alone at the end of one week of its theatrical run and Kaithi collected only Rs 35 crores.
Vijay has made a total gross of over Rs 200 crores worldwide with Bigil following Mersal and Sarkar, which were solo releases. But, the film is seeing a gradual decline in collection now. The matinee and night shows of Bigil at Devi Paradise (a popular theatre in Chennai) were cancelled because of the poor turnout of people. This news came as an absolute shocker to everyone as trade analysts are posting the box office records of Bigil.
The film, based on women’s football, has been receiving mixed reviews from critics and the general audience from day one. Though Bigil was celebrated by Vijay’s fans, some feel that the movie was engaging only in parts and failed to satisfy the hardcore football enthusiasts.
Atlee, who created magic in his previous films like Theri and Mersal, failed to amaze the audience for a third time.
The director, who is known for his mass commercial entertainers, delivered us the same kind of clichés with predictable screenplay, which left the audience annoyed. Some also felt the duration was very long and that the story was not gripping enough to keep them absorbed.
Kaithi, on the other hand, bestowed a new way of storytelling amidst the audience creating a wholesome theatre experience. Telling a story through supreme action is certainly new to Tamil Cinema. A reference for this sort of filmmaking will be Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan’s Aalavandhan, released in 2001.
Being a fan of Haasan’s films, Kaithi director Lokesh Kanagaraj has made this film a visual spectacle, enthralling the audience and keeping them glued to their seats, although the movie has neither heroine nor songs.
“Whatever the film’s budget may be, the audience need only the end results. There are two methods of filmmaking, the first is to create a film according to the likes and emotions of the audience and another method is to offer the viewers with fresh scripts and themes. Bigil was unsuccessful in both of these ways,” says Madhiyalagan, an upcoming filmmaker and screenwriter.
But Kaithi is a well-written action-thriller without diluting the inner Tamil emotions. Laying out your entire tactics and still making it engaging is the school of thought that Lokesh Kanagaraj endorses to.
Rasi Azhagappan, an assistant director and writer says, “Both of the stories are needed for Tamil cinema. The difference is, films like Bigil will be celebrated by fans and later neglected as the same old clichés of Tamil cinema. However, films like Kaithi will be spoken of for ages to come.”
