For Kollywood, the New Year always begins on a positive note – Pongal holidays. Traditionally, it is Kollywood’s biggest festival season at the box office. In the earlier days marked with limited screen releases, big heroes used to dominate Pongal, along with many other small films. On an average, there used to be six to eight releases, but things have changed. In 2015, there were five Pongal releases, which were reduced to four in 2016, and this year, only three films are releasing.
The Pongal releases this year are – Vijay’s Bairavaa on January 12, followed by Vijay Sethupathi’s PuriyadhaPudhir on January 13, and Parthiepan’s Koditta Idangalai Nirappuga on January 14. While six films had announced a Pongal release last month, it came down to four, before GV Prakash’s Bruce Lee also dropped out at the last moment.
Veteran producer P.L. Thenappan says, “The business of Pongal films has changed over the years. Earlier, despite the limited number of theatres, there were audiences for most star releases. Now, it is all about one big hero movie dominating the screens and trying to garner maximum collections.”
Today, the entire festival business revolves around the Tamil big hero film, that has potential to perform at the box office worldwide. In 2015, the Pongal biggie was Shankar’s action-packed Vikram-starrer I , and in 2016, it was Sivakarthikeyan’s family romcom Rajini Murugan . This has led to a situation where the Pongal biggie gets 80 per cent of the available screens playing Tamil films, and the holiday audiences. And after demonetisation, audiences have become choosy regarding the movies they watch.
This year, the buzz is about Vijay’s Bairavaa . K.L. Praveen, the national award-winning editor, says, “It is the ideal family entertainer with a neat social message that is topical and relevant to today’s generation. Bharathan’s story and the packaging are in perfect sync with Vijay sir’s image and the marketing is huge.”
The trailer of the film has been appreciated by fans, and it looks like an action-packed masala entertainer laced with comedy. Bairavaa has been sold for a record price in all territories, as Vijay’s last release Theri was 2016’s highest-grossing film in Tamil Nadu. In Chengalpet, a film is getting minimum guarantee and fabulous terms after a long time. It is likely to release in around 550 screens in the State, and worldwide, the count is 1,300 screens.
The other Pongal release, Vijay Sethupathi’s PuriyadhaPudhir directed by Ranjit Jeyakodi, is said to be a psychological thriller. There are rumours that the film has some similarities with Farhan Akhtar’s Karthik Calling Karthik . The film marketed by JSK Film Corporation is depending on Vijay Sethupathi’s golden run last year, with the actor having minimum guarantee.
Parthiepan’s Koditta Idangalai Nirappuga (KIN) is said to be a satire and is the director’s tribute to his guru Bhagyaraj, the master story teller. The Shanthanu Bhagyaraj-Parvathy Nair film is marketed by SPI Cinemas, and will have a limited release. Except for KIN , the other two Pongal releases have got a ‘U’ certificate.
Meanwhile, the real opposition to Bairavaa in Tamil Nadu will be from Deepika Padukone’s Hollywood debut xXx: Return of Xander Cage . The action-packed entertainer, where she is cast opposite Vin Diesel, has some terrific stunt scenes. The film with a Tamil dubbed version is releasing on Pongal day (January 14), six days before its release in other international territories. Hollywood studios seem to understand the Indian market better than the locals. In Tamil Nadu, seeing the huge success of dubbed content in the local market, many theatres are giving it top priority after Bairavaa . xXx will get the second-highest number of screens in the State after Bairavaa .
The lone Hindi release is Ok Jaanu , the Hindi remake of Mani Ratnam’s O Kadhal Kanmani , which is likely to have a limited release in Chennai and Chengalpet multiplexes. The Sankranthi Telugu releases – Chiranjeevi’s comeback film Khaidi No.150 , a remake of AR Murugadoss-Vijay’s Kaththi , Balakrishna’s Krish-directed period drama Gautamiputra Satakarni , and Sharwanand’s romcom Shatamanam Bhavati – will also be releasing in key Chennai and Chengalpet markets. All eyes are on the Pongal films and their box-office performance will determine how many biggies can release for the Republic Day weekend.
