The cold war between Vijay Deverakonda and Nani needs no introduction. Despite neither of them admitting it, fans of both actors go to extreme lengths to compare their films’ business and box-office collections. Now that films featuring both actors have hit the big screens within a few weeks of each other, the comparisons have once again come to the forefront on X.
‘Natural Star’ Nani’s The Paradise hit theatres to highly negative reviews from audiences and critics. In spite of that, the action drama emerged as an above-average grosser, collecting ₹170 crore gross worldwide. On the flip side, Vijay Deverakonda’s Ranabaali, despite enjoying better reviews and word of mouth, couldn’t even collect half of Nani’s film’s gross.
This triggered a massive fan war on X, with some fans claiming that Nani unanimously owns the No. 1 spot among Tier-2 heroes. While Ranabaali achieved breakeven in most territories with a modest gross of ₹70 crore, comparisons with The Paradise make it look inferior.
The fact that Jailer 2, a dubbed film, outperformed the straight Telugu film Ranabaali in its own backyard has further fuelled the negativity around Vijay. It remains to be seen whether Vijay Deverakonda can turn the tables with his next release, Rowdy Janardhana.
