Box Office: Can Suriya's Retro cross his previous outing Kanguva's worldwide lifetime collections?

There’s no shortage of hype when it comes to a Suriya film, but box office numbers tell their own story. His latest grand release Retro, which opened strongly over the May Day holiday, is now showing signs of struggle. Despite the initial momentum, collections began to dip huge from Monday onward, raising concerns about first-week numbers. At this moment, one wonders if Retro would surpass the worldwide total of Suriya’s previous film Kanguva, or not.

Released in 2024, Kanguva was an epic fantasy action film directed by Siva. Made on a massive budget of over Rs 300 crores, it starred Suriya in dual roles and featured Bobby Deol and Disha Patani in their Tamil debuts. Though it received mixed to negative reviews and underperformed in the domestic circuit, it eventually found traction abroad. Its total worldwide collection stands at Rs 96 crore, with decent numbers from other language versions from overseas adding up.

In contrast, the Karthik Subbaraj directorial Retro, started off with a bang but slowed down rapidly. The romantic action thriller features Suriya as Paarivel, an orphan-turned-gangster trying to escape his violent past. Backed by strong performances and high production values, the film carried big expectations. However, a mismatch between its romantic promotions and the film's darker, intense narrative seems to have affected word-of-mouth. Critics cited its pacing as another drawback.

 

By the end of its five-day run, Retro grossed Rs 24 crore in Tamil Nadu. Combined with collections from other territories, the film’s worldwide total after Monday now stands at Rs 79 crore. While it’s an impressive number for many films, it still leaves Retro trailing behind Kanguva by a notable margin.

Overseas performance for Retro has remained lukewarm. Its weekday drops suggest that the film’s theatrical momentum may already be fading. While it could eventually surpass Kanguva's India gross of Rs 72.25 crore, catching up to the global total remains uncertain.

For now, Retro is holding ground, but whether it can mount a second wind and cross the Rs 96 crore mark will depend entirely on the coming weekend.

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