Did YRF Misjudge Rajini-Lokesh’s Box Office Pull?

Did Yash Raj Films (YRF) underestimate the clash between their big-ticket War 2 and senior star Rajinikanth’s Tamil film Coolie? Going by the initial advance bookings or U.S. trends, the perception battle so far has been one-sided in favor of Coolie.

Despite War 2 boasting stars like NTR and Hrithik Roshan, it has clearly been lagging behind the senior superstar Rajinikanth’s film from the beginning. This suggests the YRF bosses may have grossly underestimated the power of Tamil director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s brand.

It’s not just about the initial booking trend. Coolie has taken the upper hand early on. While content will ultimately decide the winner, the current momentum is heavily in Coolie’s favour, and the damage is already done for War 2 in terms of its opening.

YRF, Hrithik, and NTR seem to have overlooked the fact that no film is immune to weak pre-release buzz or poor word of mouth, even with two Tier-1 stars.

The hero-director combination is often the real game changer, and in this case, Sun Pictures paired the most happening director, Lokesh Kanagaraj, with the universally loved Rajinikanth and Anirudh, creating a killer combination.

In contrast, War 2’s director Ayan Mukerji has not been able to generate even half the excitement for the project. Despite having two proven stars, the film has trailed Coolie at every step.

Whether choosing to clash was the right move will become clear soon. War 2 team could have easily avoided the clash by citing VFX delays but still chose to go ahead. Did they make the right decision? We will find out in a few hours. As always, stay tuned to M9 News for our unbiased War 2 review.