War 2 vs Coolie release and reviews highlights: Rajinikanth eclipses Hrithik-Jr NTR at box office, mints ₹50+ crore

Coolie has become only the third Tamil film to cross ₹50 crore net in India on the first day itself, reaching the mark a little after 8 pm on Thursday. It has its sights set on the top 2 - Rajni's own Enthiran ( ₹60 crore) and Vijay's Leo ( ₹66 crore).

While War 2's opening at the box office has not been ideal, the film is still going strong. By 7 pm, it had earned ₹31.3 crore in India, and was set to cross another YRF Spy Universe film - Salman Khan's Ek Tha Tiger, which opened at ₹32.93 crore in 2012.

Coolie is set to cross the ₹50 crore mark in domestic net earnings by 8 pm on its release day. This puts it on track to break the record for biggest opening by a Tamil film, which was set by Vijay's Leo. The 2024 film earned ₹66 crore on day 1.

A shirtless scene of Jr NTR in the film with very obviously fake abs added through VFX has found its way on social media, with Twitter users ridiculing the ‘ridiculous VFX’. One tweet read, “It's okay to be on the chubbier side for a leading man; forced shirtless scenes with bad VFX only add to the humiliation.”

Soubin Shahir's performance as one of the antagonists of the Rajinikanth-starrer has earned him praise on Twitter, with fans calling him ‘the real villain’ and praising his ‘amazing acting’.

Director Karthik Subbaraj, who directed Rajinikanth in Petta, was all praise for Coolie. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “#Coolie was Thalaivar show all the way.... Thalaivar's mass, swag n style was awesome in many moments.…That few mins of young Thalaivar was (fire emojis).” He also congratulated the whole team on the success.

After receiving mixed reviews and trailing behind Coolie, War 2 sold 35.92k tickets in an hour in BookMyShow, gaining a little bit of an edge. As of 6 PM, the film has collected ₹28 crore net in India.

Who is Aamir Khan's Dahaa? Is Rajinikanth film part of LCU, connecting it to Kaithi, Vikram and Leo? Know all that and more here.

As Rajinikanth's Coolie takes a commanding lead against War 2 in the box office clash, fans of the superstar trend the hashtag #CoolieConquersWar2 on X (formerly Twitter). By 5 pm, Coolie has earned ₹39 crore in India as opposed to ₹25 crore for War 2.

War 2 post-credits scene features Bobby Deol introducing Alpha, the next chapter in the YRF Spy Universe. Sharvari, who leads the film, along with Alia Bhatt, took to Instagram Stories to share her excitement. “Feeling toooo tooo tooooo overwhelmed & proud to be a part of this incredible cinematic universe,” she wrote.

The HT review of Coolie gave the film 2.5 stars, calling it ‘confused’ and ‘uneven.'

However, it praised Rajinikanth's unmatched screen presence, noting, 'Rajinikanth is the heart and soul of the film. At 74, the ageing superstar still lords over the screen, drawing loud cheers and whistles even at the twitch of an eyebrow. Very few actors can manage this connect with the audience across cultures. Even in a film as uneven as Coolie, Rajinikanth's presence and persona are among the saving graces.'

Several fans took to X to share Jr NTR's entry in War 2, cheering loudly for their favourite star. The actor's shirtless look also got cheers and whistles from fans in theatres. The film marks his entry in the YRF Spy Universe.

A leaked scene of Aamir Khan from Rajinikanth's Coolie is going viral on X. The actor appears with long black tattoos over his hands and neck and then proceeds to confront Rajinikanth's character. Many shared that Aamir deserved a better cameo and thatit could have been more impactful in the film.

The HT review of War 2 read, 'The backstory tries to resuscitate the second half, but by then, scrolling Instagram seems far more exciting.

The action is fine. Elevated by the sheer passion Hrithik and NTR bring, but still fine. And if I may say, even without a convincing enough motive, NTR edges out Hrithik just a teeny bit.'

Although Rajinikanth's craze is at an all-time high, the reviews of Coolie have not been all positive. Many fans took to X to share that this might be Lokesh Kanagaraj's weakest film yet, with too many characters, little plot, and many more twists that become tiring after a point.

Several fans posted Kiara Advani's glamorous bikini scene in War 2, which appeared in the song Aavan Jaavan. Fans were seen cheering for the actor as she confidently walked in a bikini.

There were reports that the team of War 2 was asked to reduce sensual images by 50%, which is equal to 9 seconds. These visuals could be those of actor Kiara Advani’s bikini scene.

Soubin Shahir stole the show in the track Monica, featuring Pooja Hedge. The actor's energetic dance moves and cracking screen presence ensured the maximum whistles in theatres as fans cheered loudly for him.

Bobby Deol arrives at the very end of War 2, where he is seen with a little girl (who seems to be the character that will be taken up by Alia Bhatt), describing what the meaning of Alpha is. ‘Every city is a jungle, and in each city who will rule? Alpha!’ he says.

Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie received mixed reviews upon release, with many pointing out the jaded script. However, Soubin Shahir's performance has received massive praise, with many fans sharing that he steals every scene in the film. Fans also called him the biggest surprise of the movie.

Although Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR urged fans not to reveal spoilers from the film, several users on X have claimed that Alia Bhatt has a cameo in the film! However, the makers have not confirmed these rumours or issued a statement on this. Still, Bobby Deol does have a cameo appearance in the post-credit scene.

For the unversed, Alia will star in the next spyverse film Alpha, which will also have Sharvari.

So far at 1 pm, Rajinikanth's Coolie has minted ₹23 crore at the box office on Day 1.

As per Sacnilk, the day 1 box office collection for War 2 stands at ₹14 crore at 1pm.

“Actually, why was #Coolie given an ‘A’ certificate..!? Plenty of other U/A films have far more violence than this one!,” read a tweet.

Actors Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR's ation thriller War 2 hit theaters on August 14 in multiple languages. The film's advance booking numbers looked promising, with the film witnessing a 10 times surge in pre-sales after opening of Telugu shows. Read full story here.

As per Sacnilk.com, War 2 has collected ₹11 crore by 12 pm. However, the advance booking number is 20 crore too.