Film industry wary over Deepavali deadlock

Besides Vishal Krishna’s Poojai, many more star vehicles are likely to hit screens

Theatre owners are among those who are worried that audiences will get split with so many movies releasing. Photo: M. Prabhu

No other festival is preferred by film stars, filmmakers and producers as much as Deepavali to release their film.

This Deepavali too promises a lot for Tamil fans. Even as actor Vishal Krishna’s ‘Poojai’ has been confirmed for release, a number of big budget films including Kamal Haasan’s ‘Uthama Villain’, actor Vijay’s ‘Kaththi’ and Shankar’s big budget extravaganza ‘Ai’ are rumoured to be in the fray. This has raised concerns about the proper availability of theatres, considering smaller films will also compete for the screens.

Actor Vishal unambiguously stated that ‘Poojai’

, which is directed by the highly successfully filmmaker Hari, will release on Deepavali day.

“This was decided long ago and there is no doubt about ‘Poojai’’s release irrespective of other films. In fact, we have already booked the theatres,” he said. This would mean that even if another biggie releases on Deepavali, audiences will have to be split. With just around 850 screens in the State and even fewer screens that provide a good return on investment, theatre owners have been calling for spacing out big releases, especially around festive days.

The Southern Business head of Disney-UTV Motion Pictures, G. Dhananjayan, stated it is not good for the industry if highly anticipated films clash at the box office on a festive weekend. He pointed out that the Suriya-starrer, ‘Anjaan’, was able to earn 11 crores from the southern market because it was a solo-release. “We have a finite audience and a finite number of theatres in Tamil Nadu. Why should two big movies release and split the audience? As far as I know, distributors also prefer one big film at a time. Also, Deepavali this time around falls on a weekday,” he said.

While Vishal insists that not more than two star-driven movies can have a comfortable release in Tamil Nadu, noted distributor Abirami Ramanathan feels that there is no such problem. “There is usually a perception that when two star films release, it affects the opening of both the films. Nothing of that sort happens. There are enough screens,” he said.

What do the theatre owners feel? Many believe that it makes little business sense for producers to go head-to-head with big films. “It is a loss for all,” said Rakesh Gowthaman, MD of Vettri Theatres. “When ‘Jilla’ and ‘Veeram’ released, it split the audience. The industry needs a blockbuster once in every two-and-a-half months. Had ‘Jilla’ or ‘Veeram’ come a little later, everyone would have benefitted.”