It is the season of adult comedies in Tamil, as they are driving the box-office crazy. In under a year, director Santhosh P Jayakumar has already made back-to-back super hits with Gautham Karthik — Hara Hara Mahadevaki (HHM) and Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuththu ( IAMK ). IAMK is one of the biggest hits in the first half of this year. The film, made on a shoe-string budget of ₹4.25 crore, is reported to have made a distributor’s share of ₹12 to 13.5 crore in 25 days from theatricals alone. The film, full of double entendres, has no buyers for its television rights and will now premiere on digital platform.
Adult comedies have been part and parcel of Tamil cinema. GV Prakash’s Trisha Illana Nayanthara worked big time at the box-office two years ago. A leading distributor pointed out: “Adult comedies are seasonal and have its own audiences mainly among the youth. It enables it to have a strong opening. The economics of these films are simple; they are made on a titillating subject and on a tight budget without big stars. They provide laughs and it’s mixed with sleaze and glamour. Such films will have a limited run as they are devoid of family audiences. Normally they should be able to turn profitable within the first week itself.”
Stiff opposition
There is also stiff resistance to these films from social organisations, women’s forums and from within the industry. As IAMK director Santhosh P Jayakumar explained: “I’m very happy with the huge success of the film, though I never thought it will do this kind of business. However, it has created an army of haters. My point is that IAMK was made as an adult entertainer with horror thrown in and it was certified by CBFC as an ‘A’ film. It was also promoted as an adult comedy so I don’t know why I had to face so much opposition.”
Santhosh added: “The idea is that the content should work for target audiences instantly as it is the opening that matters for these films.” Santhosh completed the entire shoot of IAMK in 23 days. After two sensational hits, he is now moving away from the adult genre with his next film with Arya titled Ghajinikanth , which he says will be “an out and out ultimate family entertainer”. The film which has been censored and is said to have got a “U’ censor certificate.
A short story
The industry veterans feel that this adult comedy wave will subside as it is very difficult to sustain in an age when people’s attention span is limited. Says leading producer G Dhananjayan : “The box office success of HHM and IAMK shows that the audience are ready for any film that entertains them. However, I don’t believe this genre has any longevity. It is a short term phenomenon and it cannot survive for too long.”
The adult comedy is also a way to explore other markets as IAMK is now to be remade in Hindi and Telugu. In fact, Bollywood has a strong youth-centric multiplex-driven audience for adult comedies as proved by the huge success of Kyaa Kool Hain Hum and the Masti franchises. As an upcoming director, who did not want to be quoted said: “These raunchy sex comedies reflect the repressed mind of a certain section of the audience. I can’t blame them as at the end of the day it is the box-office that determines your standing in this industry.”
Mind your language
Meanwhile, the CBFC has come out with a circular saying that henceforth movies should be submitted with subtitles at the time of certification, or no subtitles should be added after the movie is certified. This comes after a recent Indian adult comedy film’s subtitling was found to be full of errors. Subsequently some foreign countries denied the film a local censor certificate.
