Sandeep Kishan's heist film from debutant director Jason Sanjay opened bigger than Vijay Sethupathi's Baththa, even as reviews stay divided on both Tamil releases.
Two Tamil releases, one weekend, and a scoreline nobody quite expected. Baththa, which hit screens on October 1, pulled in Rs 1.5 crore on its opening day. Sigma, which released a day later on October 2, has reportedly crossed that number with an India gross of around Rs 2.70 crore on day one, according to figures cited by Sacnilk. Trade sources suggest the worldwide number for Sigma may have already touched Rs 3 crore.
The comparison matters because of who's behind each film. Baththa is directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan and produced by Atlee, with Vijay Sethupathi and Lijomol Jose leading the cast. Sigma marks the directorial debut of Jason Sanjay, son of actor Vijay, and stars Sandeep Kishan in a heist thriller that trade watchers are already billing as this week's real box office contest.
Reviews, though, tell a more complicated story than the numbers do. Sigma has picked up mixed notices, with several critics calling it a competent, well-constructed heist film without quite landing in blockbuster territory. Baththa, by contrast, has been getting more consistently positive reviews, and its day two collections climbed over day one, a pattern that suggests word of mouth is doing some heavy lifting. Trade circles expect Baththa to close the gap, and possibly overtake Sigma, once the Saturday and Sunday numbers come in.
Both films, per box office circles, are already running ahead of recent Tamil releases Ezhu Kadal Ezhu Malai, Anbil Avan and Don't Trouble the Trouble, which gives this weekend's face-off an added layer of stakes beyond just Sigma versus Baththa.
There's a family subplot running alongside the numbers too. Videos of Sangeetha Vijay and her daughter Divya Sasha attending the first-day-first-show of Sigma at Chennai's Kamala theatre went around online soon after the screening, and fans picked up on something specific: both of them are in Chennai, living with Jason Sanjay, not in London as had apparently been assumed by some. That detail, small as it is, has added its own bit of warmth to the conversation around the film's launch.
What happens next depends entirely on the weekend. If Sigma's opening-day cushion holds and Baththa's reviews convert into a stronger Saturday and Sunday, this could tighten into one of the closer Tamil box office races of the season. Industry trackers say the real test is whether Vijay's fanbase, positive reviews or not, can carry Baththa past a film that's already running ahead on raw numbers. Either way, the final tally by Sunday night will decide which camp gets bragging rights this round.
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