Vivegam: Kerala audience finds Thala Ajith's movie just sound and fury; Baahubali 2 records off limits?

Thala Ajith's latest release Vivegam had a grand opening across the country on Thursday, August 24. The Siva directorial had the second highest screen count for an other language movie at the Kerala box office after the blockbuster epic Baahubali: The Conclusion, which was released in 320 theatres on the opening day in the South Indian state. The Ajith-starrer was screened in 309 theatres in Kerala alone with the premiere show starting as early as 5 am. 

Check Vivegam audience review

Will Vivegam surpass the opening day collection record of Baahubali 2?

SS Rajamouli's directorial venture made a record collection of approximately Rs 6.27 crore on the first day in Kerala. The much-hyped Baahubali 2 witnessed a huge rush on the opening day as the audience was eagerly awaiting to know "why Kattappa killed Baahubali".

Also read: Vivegam critics response

Similarly, Vivegam also had a humongous hype, thanks to the promising promo videos of the Ajith-starrer. The fans of Thala flooded the theatres in Kerala for the early morning shows on Thursday. This clearly proves the movie will be making a good business at the Kerala box office.

Ajith fans celebrate Vivegam release and it is all-out madness, see pics

However, Vivegam opened to a mixed response from the audience with many suggesting Ajith to work with someone else other than director Siva. "#Vivegam is all about 1 man #ThalaAjith. Watch it for his dedication. Otherwise a strictly average movie. Climax a big let down. High time #Thala moves on and does a film for someone other than Siva..Getting stereotyped now. He deserves someone better to utilize him [sic]," ForumKeralam tweeted on social media.

Vivek Ranjit, a popular subtitler in Malayalam movies comments: "#Vivegam is a milestone in technology! Siruthai Siva can put Hollywood to shame! They can't even imagine such stuff! NASA & UNESCO would be stunned before giving approval! ."

Netizens have also claimed that Vivegam can only be appreciated for Ajith's remarkable perfomance as it has a predictable and lazy script making it just an average movie. Similar negative reviews are likely to affect the business of Vivegam, which was made on a huge budget.

"With too much of gunfire, heroics and constant background score, Vivegam is more of a chaos rather than an action film. The silliness of this film is very similar to Singham 3, but luckily Vivegam is not an unintentional comedy," critic Aswin Bharadwaj writes giving just 2 star for Ajith's movie.

Average One Predictable & Lazy Script But Ajith's Extraordinary Performance & High Production Value Makes It Watchable. Anirudh's Bgm & Songs Go If U Like High Voltage Action Films Don't Think About Content & Logic - 2.5/5 - Malayalam Review tweeted.

The Kerala distribution rights of Vivegam has been acquired by Tomichan Mulakupaadam, who had bankrolled the blockbuster Mohanlal-starrer Pulimurugan, which is the first Malayalam movie to enter Rs 150 crore at the worldwide box office. The movie also stars Vivek Oberoi, Kajal Aggarwal, Akshara Haasan, Aarav Chowdhary, Karunakaran, Amilia Terzimehic and Serge Crozon-Cazin in main roles.