Vaathi box office: Dhanush’s bilingual film grosses over ₹60 crore worldwide

Actor Dhanush’s latest Tamil-Telugu bilingual film Vaathi about one man’s fight to reform the education system in the 1990’s has appealed to the audiences. The film has grossed over ₹60 crore worldwide since its release last week. The film features Dhanush in the role of a professor, who brings about a change with his ways of teaching. Vaathi was released on February 17.

Directed by Venky Atluri, the film was simultaneously released in Tamil as well as Telugu. While it was titled Vaathi in Tamil, the Telugu version title was SIR. As per trade analyst Trinath, the film is doing well and its message about making education accessible and affordable for all has worked in its favour.

“The film is doing very well. The Telugu version, in fact, is doing far better than the Tamil version. Both the versions put together; the movie has grossed over ₹60 crore in seven days worldwide. The message about making education affordable and accessible for all has worked effectively with the masses,” Trinath told HT.

The film, which has music by GV Prakash Kumar, also stars Samyuktha and Samuthirakani in key roles. Talking about the film, Venky Atluri had said in a pre-release press interaction that some incidents from his life when he was a student inspired him to make Vaathi. “I finished my class 12th around 1998. That’s when the private schools were really flourishing and were slowly taking over the government schools. It had become a big issue back then and even got the government involved to sort this issue. Some of these events inspired me to make Vaathi.”

The film throws the spotlight on privatisation of the education system and how one man tried to fight it. Vaathi becomes the second hit in a row for Dhanush after last year’s Tamil drama Thiruchitrambalam, which grossed over ₹100 crore during its theatrical run. Trinath added that Vaathi may not be another Thiruchitrambalam but it definitely will emerge as another successful venture for Dhanush.