There is a lot of buzz around ‘Jaana Nayakan’, yet this last film of Vijay is lagging behind his last two films – ‘Leo’ and ‘The Greatest of All Time’ (GOAT) – in terms of advance bookings, with just two days left for its release in theaters on July 23.
Despite good momentum, ‘Jaana Nayakan’ is yet to reach the advance booking figures of Vijay’s previous two films. ‘The Greatest of All Time’ (2024) had earned Rs 29.83 crore in domestic pre-sales before its release and opened to Rs 126.32 crore worldwide, while ‘Leo’ (2023) had earned Rs 46.36 crore in advance bookings on the first day (excluding blocked seats) and ultimately earned Rs 148.5 crore worldwide on its opening day.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film, directed by H. Vinoth, has collected over Rs 15 crore domestically in first-day advance bookings, including blocked seats. Although these figures are one of the biggest openings of the year, they still lag behind Vijay’s previous films.
But trade analysts are hopeful that ‘Jana Nayakan’ will reduce this gap in the next two days as bookings are starting in full swing at different centres. The film is expected to be one of the biggest openings of Vijay’s career as there is a lot of curiosity about his last film and his first theatrical release after becoming the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Interestingly, ‘Jaana Nayakan’ has faced a big hurdle despite its slower pace than ‘LEO’ and ‘GOAT’. The film was leaked online in high-definition several months before its release, yet the piracy controversy had little impact on audience interest.
Tamil Nadu remains the film’s biggest market with advance bookings of Rs 6.74 crore, followed by Karnataka (Rs 4.88 crore) and Kerala (Rs 1.80 crore), reflecting the huge demand in the southern states ahead of its release.
Despite being the biggest victim of piracy in recent years, the film’s pre-sales have been good. The high-definition version of ‘Jaana Nayakan’ has surfaced online much before its theatrical release, raising concerns in the industry about how it will impact the box office. However, the trend of advance booking shows that this leak has not had any significant impact on Vijay’s fans and they are still excited to watch the film in the theatre.
Recently speaking on this controversy, director H. Vinoth appealed to the audience to watch ‘Jaana Nayakan’ on the big screen instead of the pirated version. Calling it more than just a commercial entertainer, the filmmaker said that the film deals with sensitive political issues that should be seen in theaters and should be discussed by the audience.
‘Jaana Nayakan’ stars Vijay along with Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamita Baiju, Prakash Raj, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Priyamani, Narayan and Nassar. This political action drama film with music by Anirudh Ravichander is scheduled to release in theaters worldwide on July 23.