GOAT: Director Venkat Prabhu reveals why Thalapathy Vijay's film didn't work for Telugu and Hindi audiences

The Greatest of All Time (GOAT), starring the ever-popular Thalapathy Vijay, was one of the most anticipated films of the year. Fans were excited to see Vijay in this action-packed thriller, and the film got off to a fantastic start on its opening day. It earned 44 crore net in India, with a massive 39.15 crore coming from the Tamil version.

While GOAT has been performing well in Tamil Nadu, where Vijay has a huge fan base, the movie is facing challenges in other regions. The Hindi and Telugu markets haven't been as kind to the film. The Telugu version earned only Rs 3 crore, and the Hindi version did even less, bringing in Rs 1.85 crore on the first day. Director Venkat Prabhu recently spoke about the film's struggle outside Tamil Nadu, and in his usual witty way, he had an interesting theory about why this might be the case.

As reported by several entertainment news portals, speaking with fans on X's Space (formerly known as Twitter), Prabhu joked that his support for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), an IPL team, might have played a role. In a key scene, Vijay's character races against time to stop a bomb at CSK's home ground, the Chepauk Stadium. The director quipped, "We are all CSK fans it's in our blood and we can't deny that. Maybe, it's because of the CSK connection that this movie didn't appeal much to Telugu and Hindi audiences. I don't think they enjoyed the moment like we did."

Despite these challenges, the film has continued to attract audiences in Tamil Nadu, and its global box office collections are impressive. According to the makers, GOAT has crossed 288 crore in worldwide gross earnings.

Watch a video on GOAT

In the movie, Vijay takes on two roles, playing both a fearless ex-leader of an anti-terror squad and his younger version. The starstudded cast includes Prabhu Deva, Prashanth, Jayaram, Sneha, and others, with brief cameos by Trisha Krishnan and Sivakarthikeyan. GOAT is the superstar's second last movie before he quits acting to venture into politics next year. Thalapathy's last film is going to be an actioner with director H Vinoth.