Box office: Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth's 'Lal Salaam' struggles on first Saturday
Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth's latest directorial, Lal Salaam, made a lackluster debut at the box office on Friday. Despite receiving positive feedback from the audience and critics, the Tamil sports drama—featuring superstar Rajinikanth's extended cameo—managed to bring in just Rs. 6.55cr in two days. This is in stark contrast to Rajinikanth's previous film, Jailer (2023), which amassed an impressive Rs. 56.6cr on opening day. Here's the breakdown of Lal Salaam's figures.
Why does this story matter?
Although Lal Salaam was heavily promoted, it failed to convert Rajinikanth's star power into significant box-office earnings. The film has gained attention mostly for its political themes, addressing issues such as caste oppression and religious discrimination. Another factor that impeded Lal Salaam's collection was its concurrent release with the Shahid Kapoor starrer Teri Baaton Mein Uljha Jiya and Ravi Teja's Telugu film, Eagle.
'Lal Salaam' failed to meet expectations
Per Sacnilk, on the opening day, the film earned a modest Rs. 3.55cr. While experts anticipated positive word-of-mouth to boost weekend numbers, Lal Salaam fell short, managing to gather only around Rs. 3cr (early estimates) on its first Saturday (day two). Bankrolled by Subaskara Allirajah of Lyca Productions, the film registered an overall 29.05% Tamil occupancy on day two. In contrast, the Telugu occupancy stood at 15.93%.
Meet the cast and crew of 'Lal Salaam'
Lal Salaam stars Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth, and Rajinikanth and features supporting performances by Vignesh, Livingston, Senthil, Jeevitha, KS Ravikumar, and Thambi Ramaiah. Cricket legend Kapil Dev also has a cameo appearance. The film's story was penned by Vishnu Rangasamy, who also collaborated with Aishwaryaa on the screenplay and served as the cinematographer. The technical crew features composer AR Rahman and editor B Pravin Baaskar, too.
'Lal Salaam' marked return of Aishwaryaa after 7 years
Lal Salaam marked Aishwaryaa's return to direction after a seven-year hiatus. She commenced her filmmaking journey with 2012's 3, followed by projects such as Vai Raja Vai (2015) and the documentary Cinema Veeran (2017). Meanwhile, her father Rajinikanth is currently busy shooting for Vettaiyan under the direction of TJ Gnanavel. Additionally, the much-anticipated collaboration between Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj for Thalaivar 171 is also on the cards.
