The incessant rain might have brought much-needed cheer, but it is like a sword that hands over the fate of the opening collections of the two big releases - Ajith Kumar’s Vedalam and Kamal Haasan’s Thoongavanam .
Theatre owners and distributors, who are already grappling with midweek release as opposed to the preferred weekend release, are now hoping that the rain subsides and the crowds can enjoy the day at the movies.
Trade analysts say that Vedalam and Thoongavanam could release in a combined screen tally of 850 screens, with the former likely to corner more screens than the latter.
How will the monsoon, which has thrown life marginally out of gear in Tamil Nadu, affect the box office?
Sridhar Pillai, trade analyst, says that the monsoon won’t have much effect on collections. “There won’t be a major impact as tickets in city theatres have been sold for Tuesday and Wednesday, especially for Vedalam ,” he says. The money is already in the bag.
However, it could prove tricky in suburbs where tickets are typically sold just before the shows. Krishnakumar, who has experience in exhibition and the distribution business, says that monsoon might affect revenue of theatres in the suburbs.
“It might become a problem if theatre owners had bought movies at a high price and are relying on opening day crowds hoping that they can sell the tickets at steep prices. There is no problem in the cities across Tamil Nadu as most tickets would have been booked for the first three days,” he says.
Rakesh Gowthaman, Managing Director, Vettri Cinemas, says that the rains are unlikely to affect footfall at the theatres. But, he hoped that the depression clears over the next few hours.
“I don’t think the rains are as terrible as they were in 2005. With most of the box-office sold out for a few days, we might not have a problem - revenue wise. However, if it keeps raining for a couple of days, the night show attendance might fall over the course of the week,” he says.
