and at the overseas centres (combined collections in United States, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and other centres). Within two weeks of its release, the film earned at the worldwide box office, surpassing Velaiilla Pattadhari to emerge the highest-grossing Tamil film of Dhanush's career, until its record was broken by Asuran, another film directed by Vetrimaaran. In addition, the film crossed the crore-mark at the Chennai box office. Critical response The film was met with critical acclaim, with critics praising the story, screenplay and each actors performance. Janani K, a critic from India Today gave a rating of 4 stars (out of 5) and said that "Vada Chennai has everything you look for in a gangster thriller. But Vetri Maaran's display of twists and turns will win you over." The Indian Express-based critic Manoj Kumar R. assigned 5/5 rating for the film, saying "Vada Chennai is the closest you can get to unforgiving underworld filled with insecurity, revenge, destiny, rage and insatiable urge for bloodshed. It is not the story that stands out in Vada Chennai. It is how beautifully Vetrimaaran has captured the lifestyle of a place, which is so close and yet so far away from the advancement of modern civilization." Sowmya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of The News Minute wrote "From the colourful curses of the street to each of the characters, the film gives us a very real glimpse of gang wars. Vetrimaaran-Dhanush delivers a brilliant gangster film." Srivatsan S, writing for The Hindu, said "The obvious political overtones that have been built throughout will have its relevance in part two. If anything, Vada Chennai reiterates why Vetri Maaran is a master storyteller." Priyanka Sundar of Hindustan Times stated the film Vada Chennai, the first part of a three-part film, "is complete in itself speaks for director’s Vetrimaaran’s execution style". She further called it as a "bloody brilliant film laced with some bone chilling moments accompanied with ingenious music". Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle gave four out of five ratings and said: M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 4 stars (out of 5) and stated "The sprawling nature of the narrative and the various events that impact the lives of the numerous characters make Vada Chennai truly an epic." Film critic and trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai, in his review for Firstpost said "Vada Chennai is another feather on Vetrimaaran’s cap though not in the same league as