Lal Salaam box office collection day 3: Rajinikanth’s sports drama hits new low on first Sunday; comeback unlikely

On Sunday, Lal Salaam experienced an overall occupancy of 28.53 per cent in the Tamil market. Initially, during the morning shows, the movie had an 18.39 per cent occupancy. However, as the day progressed, the percentages saw a slight increase, rising to 32.35 during the afternoon showings and reaching 36.99 during the evening shows. The percentage dipped slightly during the night screenings, standing at 26.39.

This is also one of the poorest box office performances by a film with Rajinikanth’s presence in recent times. While his Jailer (2023) clocked Rs 56.6 crore on its release day, Annaatthe (2021), Darbar (2020), Petta (2019) and 2.0 (2018) earned Rs 29.9 crore, Rs 30.80 crore, Rs 19 crore and Rs 60.25 crore, respectively, on their premiere days.

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Nevertheless, despite being marketed as a sports drama, Lal Salaam has garnered attention primarily for its political themes, touching upon issues like caste oppression and religious discrimination.

In his review of the film, The Indian Express’ Kirubhakar Purushothaman gave the film two and a half stars and mentioned that the director wasted a decent story and Rajinikanth’s presence in a mediocre film. “It is jarring and archaic. Even the characters like the ones played by Senthil and Thambi Ramaiah come across as someone from the Tamil melodramas of the early ’90s. A long monologue from Senthil about the importance of the village festival concluded with tears is not in tune with 2024. The message of harmony and peace is welcome. But what about the medium?”

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