There seems to have been a break in Fox’s line-up for the Tamil market, with the last release being in 2015. But that seems to have ended with the announcement of three new films — Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae, RangoonandAnnanukku Jai .
I don’t look at it as a break. We don’t see the Tamil market as a place where we make films for the sake of it. The decision to enter the market has been a conscious one and we’re careful of the role we play there. So we only associate with films that truly excite us... like Kaaka Muttai and the new projects we’ve announced.
Most of your Tamil projects have been co-produced by strong and highly reputed regional directors like AR Murugadoss, Vetrimaaran and Atlee…
We’re only interested in making quality films. Once we understand a new market, we’re able to find like-minded people who share a similar vision. A lot of our success is built on the trust we place on them. That’s why we were able to be a part of hit films of so many first-time directors (M Saravanan’s Engeyum Eppodhum , Atlee’s Raja Rani , Raju Murugan’s Cuckoo , Ram’s Mundasupatti and M Manikandan’s Kaaka Muttai ).
Given the wider reach and higher collections of the Hindi film market, why would smaller southern markets be of interest to you?
As a studio, it was a logical progression for us to enter the second-largest market. You cannot overlook the technical and creative talent from the southern industries, and we were keen to work on new scripts with new directors. There was never any compulsion to make big-budget films. We are just as excited about Kaaka Muttai as any other film.
But wouldn’t a similar film have done better with access to a bigger market?
If you’re talking specifically about numbers, the cost of marketing and distributing a Hindi film is far more than a Tamil film. Tamils films too have their share of avenues to generate profits, and we’re very happy with where we’re placed.
Will this expansion extend to the other three languages in the South as well?
Not for now. Our focus is on the Tamil market.
