As the shelf life of a movie has shrunk from a few months to few weeks ever since multiplexes took over from single screen theatres, producers and distributors have realised that every single day matters at the box office.
If the trend in the last couple of months is anything to go by, Tamil film producers seem to have warmly embraced the idea of releasing movies with considerable buzz on a Thursday, instead of a Friday, to improve revenues.
In the recent past, Sivakarthikeyan’s Seemaraja (September 13), Nayanthara’s Imaikka Nodigal (August 30) and this week’s Mani Ratnam’s multi-starrer, Chekka Chivantha Vanam (September 27), have all released on a Thursday.
In fact, actors Ajith Kumar and Vijay have already made the transition over their last couple of movies, by releasing during the mid-week.
Sources in Madras Talkies say that the decision to release the film on a Thursday was taken to ensure that the film cashes in on the massive opening, thanks to huge fan followings of Vijay Sethupathi and Silambarasan.
“We just thought releasing it a day before will be good for us. The positive buzz around the film has already increased the demand for tickets. So, we have a good 4 days at the box office with October 2 also being a public holiday,” says Nithya Balakrishnan, general manager, Madras Talkies, which produced Chekka Chivantha Vaanam .
Several distributors say that this system is already in practice in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “In Andhra and Telangana, they ensure that the film is released on a Thursday so that the fans can watch it on Thursday and Friday. The families and the general audience can catch up with the film over the weekend,” said Tiruppur Subramaniam, a well-known distributor and theatre owner in western Tamil Nadu. He added that Telugu film producers are even mulling releasing movies on Wednesday.
Stating that Tamil movies of big stars would eventually start releasing on a Thursday, producer G. Dhananjayan said, “Since Chekka Chivantha Vaanam has released with huge expectations, releasing it on a Thursday makes sense. They have a 4-day housefull opening. But, this cannot be done for smaller films. If the film doesn’t do well, the number of shows could be drastically reduced.”
