‘Viswasam’ to ‘Petta’: a look at Kollywood in the first quarter

The first quarter has been fruitful for Tamil cinema, with a mix of commercial hits and offbeat cinema

Rajinikanth and Simran in ‘Petta’

Kollywood has made a good start to 2019. The first quarter report card (January 1 – March 31) is out and it’s fairly a decent mix of commercial hits and good cinema. There were as many as 55 Tamil releases out of which five – Viswasam, Petta, Thadam, LKG and Dhilluku Dhuddu 2 – have made money for the trade. There were some films like Peranbu, Sarvam Thaala Mayam, To Let and last week’s Super Deluxe that found critical acclaim and niche audiences in multiplexes.

With four or five films hitting screens every weekend, Tamil cinema continues to lead in the number of releases in India. This is primarily due to the large number of first-time producers and newcomers making self-financed films; they made up for 60% of the total releases. However, at the box-office, the audiences only watch films featuring their favourite heroes with a proven track record. The rest of the films, in most cases, run for one token morning show in multiplexes during weekend and are removed by Monday.

Petta, Viswasam rule

T he most successful Tamil film in Tamil Nadu was Ajith Kumar’s Viswasam , which released for the Pongal season on January 10. The film is said to have grossed around ₹130 crores from Tamil Nadu, with a distributors share of around ₹65 to 70 crores. The second-biggest grosser in the first quarter was Rajinikanth’s Petta, which, according to trade sources, made from Tamil Nadu around ₹110 crores, with a distributor share approximately between ₹55 to ₹60 crores. But if you take worldwide theatrical gross, Petta is far ahead of Viswasam .

The big surprise hit in the first quarter of 2019 is Arun Vijay’s

Thadam . The film is reported to have grossed around ₹21 crores in Tamil Nadu, with a theatrical share of around ₹10 crores. RJ Balaji’s LKG, made on a shoestring budget, has proved to be an instant hit along with Santhanam’s Dhilluku Dhuddu 2 . Both these films are said to have made around ₹7 crores as Tamil Nadu distributors’ share.

Key insight

One of the most significant aspects highlighted in the first quarter report card is the huge divide among audience preferences. What works big time in Tamil Nadu’s multiplex-controlled 3C’s (Chennai City, Chengalpet and Coimbatore) need not be hot in urban and rural areas that are ruled by single screens. For a film to be a blockbuster, it needs to work uniformly across markets in Tamil Nadu, which makes budget crucial. A film like LKG, made on a budget of around ₹3.50 Cr, worked as it could recover its cost from its opening week collection, mainly from urban centres. Dhilluku Dhuddu 2, made on a budget of around ₹5 crores, had better penetration in semi-urban and rural areas.

The market outside of Tamil Nadu has increased for big hero films, while for others, it has declined because of non-performance in overseas, Kerala and Karnataka markets. However, the price for Hindi dubbing rights and digital rights for big hero films has gone through the roof. To stop producers from selling satellite and digital (OTP platforms) rights separately, some Tamil channels have cartelised the business by insisting on buying all rights together.

So how’s Kollywood looking at the rest of the year? The results of the first quarter results has fired up the market. All the saleable stars in the industry are working on multiple projects, and at the same time, signing multiple-film deals with cash-rich producers. People from other businesses are investing heavily in Tamil cinema as well. The flow of début producers continues and is likely to contribute to the number of Tamil releases crossing 200 again this year. Meanwhile, the key markets of Chennai city and Chengalpet are going through a multiplex boom, as nearly 60 new screens will be opened this year, thus increasing the total revenue. It certainly promises to be an exciting year ahead for Tamil cinema.