Will it be Advantage Rajinikanth at the boxoffice this week? Annaatthe is his first Diwali release in 26 years. And the first day’s collection are sobering.The film has collected approximately 10 crore rupees on the first day.

Diwali should bring that much-needed succour to the boxoffice after the pandemic panic.

Rajinikanth’s outdated Tamil family drama Annaatthe which despite scathing reviews has opened to a massive audience. Besides the fact that Rajinikanth is God,his hospitalization and surgery further boosted the prospects of the antidiluvian melodrama.

In the South, Sooryavanshi stands no chance of beating Annaatthe at the boxoffice.

“It’s a no-brainer. If it’s Rajinikanth, there is no competition at the boxoffice,no matter who is standing at the other end, he stands defeated.True, Rajinikanth’s last 4-5 films have been below expectations. But who cares? His fanatical fans go to see HIM. It doesn’t matter what he does on screen,” a prominent Tamil filmmaker who is yet to work with Rajinikanth(but is dying to) tells me.

The weekend collections of Annaatthe are expected to be 35-40 crore rupees worldwide. This is Rajinikanth’s first Diwali release since Thangamagan in 1983.

Tamil star Vishal Krishna whose engaging entertainer Enemy opens alongside Annaatthe says there is no dispute which film gets the bigger audience. “It’s a no-brainer. Our film Enemy is not even competing with Rajini Sir’s film. Even I would go and see Annaatthe first.”