Fifty per cent of the movies being made in Kollywood should never have been released theatrically, were the comments made by an actor-turned-producer, much to the dismay of other producers. Given the fact that as many as a dozen films are jostling to release in the next three weeks, he doesn’t seem to be off his mark. The multiplexes in Chennai prefer to allot their bigger screens and prime time slots to other-language films, as some of the smaller Tamil films fail to attract a crowd.
Is small still beautiful?
Last week’s release Maragatha Naanayam,a small film with positive WOM (word of mouth), went on to become a hit. Despite running houseful in its second week, its shows are being cut down to accommodate the slew of new releases. An entertainment industry consultant says, “A lot of films with fresh new content, like Margatha Naanayam, Rangoon, Uru, and Peechankai, are attracting a section of the audiences, but none of them is able to survive for long, as multiplexes prefer new content which keeps footfalls high.”
The weeks ahead
Take a look at the number of Tamil and other language films slotted for release next Friday. On June 23, for the Eid weekend, the two major Tamil films clashing are Simbu’s mass commercial Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan (AAA) and Jayam Ravi’s Vijay-directed jungle adventure Vanamagan . Then there are other language films which are increasingly becoming popular in Tamil Nadu, like Salman Khan’s Tubelight and Allu Arjun’s Duvvada Jagannadham (DJ). All four films are trying to get maximum screen space and shows, to get the three-day festival opening.
A week later, there are more releases queuing up. Selvaraghavan’s delayed psychological thriller, Nenjam Marappathillai , is clashing with Gautham Karthik-RJ Balaji’s Ivan Thanthiran . Then there is the big Hollywood sci-fi thriller Transformers: The Last Knight . G Dhananjayan, who is distributing Ivan Thanthiran , says, “It is release or perish for us, as the film has got a U certificate and tax exemption from the State government for its entire theatrical run in Tamil Nadu. And with the GST regime starting from July 1, I have to release it on June 30, as it is the last day to benefit from tax exemption.”
There are more than a dozen Tamil films that have got tax waiver and are now trying to release before June 30. However, a section believes that the State’s entertainment tax waiver will hold no value after June 30.
Too many choices
Explains a leading multiplex programmer, “We normally allot more shows to films with good hype and advance booking, to enable maximum revenue in the opening weekend. The situation is becoming tight for us, as every week, an avalanche of biggies is hitting the screens and we have to divide the screens among them.”
And come July 7, the biggest Hollywood release Spider-Man: Homecoming releases worldwide. The Tamil films due on July 7 are the exciting Madhavan-Vijay Sethupathi cop-versus-don thriller Vikram Vedha, Santhanam’s Server Sundaram , Arjun’s 150th film Nibunan and a few others. As for the audiences, the more the merrier.
