Vijay Deverakonda’s latest film, Kingdom, directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, has sparked serious controversy with the Naam Thamizhar Katchi (NTK), a pro-Tamil political party.
NTK accuses the film of misrepresenting Sri Lankan Tamils—specifically, depicting LTTE fighters and Eezham Tamils as subjugated mountain folk, which NTK argues distorts their history and legacy.
Saravanan, NTK’s State Propaganda Secretary, openly criticised the film for attempting to rewrite the past and further wound a community that has already endured immense hardship.
Responding to these accusations, Sithara Entertainments, the production house, issued a statement denying any wrongdoing. They maintain that the Kingdom is entirely fictional, with no connection to real events, and say they’ve clearly stated this in their disclaimers.
The producers also emphasised their respect for Tamil sentiments and insisted there was no intent to offend. Still, they expressed regret if anyone felt hurt and appealed for support for the film.
Despite this, NTK activists organised protests outside cinemas in Madurai and Trichy, calling for a ban on the movie in Tamil Nadu. The tensions escalated to the point that the film’s distributors sought police protection from the Madras High Court.
Vijay Deverakonda’s Kingdom Box Office
Well, the royal entrance of Kingdom into theatres hasn’t exactly lived up to its hype at the box office. Starring Vijay Deverakonda alongside Satyadev, Venkatesh, and newcomer Bhagyashri Borse, the film opened with a decent buzz. But here’s the thing—just six days in, its momentum is already fading.
Directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri (the guy behind Jersey), Kingdom started fine over its first weekend. But by Monday, numbers took a nosedive—down 73 per cent, to be exact. Tuesday did nothing to help, either. With this kind of downward spiral, reaching that Rs 50 crore milestone is looking less and less likely.
According to Sacnilk’s estimates, Kingdom pulled in about Rs 1.5 crore (net) nationwide on day five, bringing its total domestic haul to around Rs 44.4 crore by Tuesday night.
The film’s opening day was promising, with Rs 18 crore coming in on July 31. Things dipped a bit on Friday, but the weekend was steady enough: Rs 7.5 crore on Saturday, Rs 6.67 crore on Sunday, and back up to Rs 7.5 crore. By the first weekend’s close, the net Indian collection stood at Rs 40.9 crore, with a gross of Rs 48.15 crore. Then Monday hit—just Rs 2 crore.
Even with the midweek slump, Kingdom has already beaten the domestic net totals of Vijay’s recent releases like Liger (Rs 41.17 crore) and The Family Star (Rs 18.25 crore).
Still, it’s yet to surpass Kushi, which had a lifetime net of Rs 48.26 crore in India. So, yes, Kingdom’s box office “reign” might be a little shaky right now.
The plot follows a cop-turned-spy in Sri Lanka who becomes the unlikely hero for a fictional group known as the Divi tribe. Even as the controversy rages on, the filmmakers remain firm, insisting that the story is purely a product of imagination, not history.
