Viruman weekend box office: Karthi’s film crosses ₹30 crore in Tamil Nadu, eyes ₹50 crore first week

Viruman weekend box office: Karthi's latest release has crossed ₹30 crore at the Tamil Nadu box office in its opening weekend.

Karthi’s latest Tamil release Viruman has struck gold at the Tamil Nadu box office in its opening weekend. The film, directed by Muthaiya, has grossed over ₹30 crore with phenomenal response from the audiences, as per trade pundits. In the film, Karthi plays a character who is at loggerheads with his father and vows to kill him for being responsible for his mother’s suicide.

Viruman stars Karthi, along with Prakash Raj and Aditi Shankar.

Trade analyst Trinath said rural-based stories with a good dose of emotions and drama have always worked at the box office. “The film registered the biggest first day opening in Karthi’s career with ₹8.2 crore. In the first weekend, the film approximately grossed over ₹30 crore and with Monday being a holiday, it’s expected to perform well. It should comfortably breach the ₹50 crore club in the first week,” Trinath said.

Viruman marked the debut of Aditi Shankar, daughter of filmmaker Shankar. It also starred Prakash Raj, Saranya Ponvannan and Soori in key roles.

Meanwhile, Karthi currently awaits the release of Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I and Sardaar, which has been directed by PS Mithran. Karthi recently confirmed that he will commence work on Kaithi 2 next year. He added that Lokesh Kanagaraj will return to direct the sequel.

A clip from the press interaction during the promotions of Viruman from Kerala last week has surfaced on social media. In the clip, Karthi said that Kaithi 2 will happen next year after Lokesh completes his project with Vijay. In Kaithi, Karthi played a prisoner on parole to meet his daughter he has never seen. When he crosses paths with a cop, he’s forced to join forces with him and fight the drug lords who are after a cocaine consignment in police custody. The entire story unfolds in a single night within a span of four hours.

Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Kaithi grossed over ₹100 crore in cinemas during its run. The film is now part of Lokesh's cinematic universe, which also includes Vikram. Karthi reprised his character from Kaithi had a voice-only cameo in Vikram.