Rajinikanth‘s ‘Lal Salaam’, helmed by his daughter Aishwarya Rajinikanth, was released in theaters on February 9. The Tamil-language sports drama, which revolves around the themes of caste oppression and religious discrimination, kicked off with a low opening at the box office. Certainly, its first day numbers are much lesser than other superstar’s films. However, it cannot be ruled out that the actor only has an extended cameo in ‘Lal Salaam’.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, ‘Lal Salaam’ minted Rs 4.30 crore nett on its day of release. While the numbers are quite less, the numbers might increase over the weekend.
The film features Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth in the lead roles, with Rajinikanth seen in an extended cameo as Moideen Bhai. ‘Lal Salaam’ saw an overall 30.35 percent Tamil occupancy on Friday with 38.5 percent in Chennai and 24 percent in Bengaluru. The highest occupancy was witnessed in Puducherry, with 39.25 percent.
With ‘Lal Salaam’, Aishwarya Rajinikanth marked her return to the director’s chair after a seven-year hiatus. Coming to Rajinikanth, he last starred in the blockbuster hit ‘Jailer’, which ranks among his highest-grossing films. The music of the film is scored by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman.
By comparison, ‘Jailer’ had a massive box office opening as it earned nearly Rs 50 crore on day one. The veteran actor will next be seen in Vettaiyan, directed by TJ Gnanavel, and he also has an yet-to-be-titled Thalaivar 171, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, in the pipeline.
Aishwarya has previously directed psychological thriller ‘3’, ‘Vai Raja Vai’ and announced her debut Bollywood film ‘Oh Saathi Chal’ as well.
