Rajinikanth’s Kaala is set for a June 7 release and the state’s film business is pinning a lot of hopes on the Tamil superstar’s newest offering
In March this year, the Tamil film industry had come to a screeching halt. Not only film releases but productions too were put on hold due to a strike by theatre owners against the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC). As many as 30 films were awaiting a release date and after a long delay, some films will finally hit the theatres this month.
Starting from May 4, films like horror comedy Iruttu Aarayil Murattu Kuthu, romantic comedy Kaathirupor Pattiyal, Alaipesi and actor Allu Arjun’s film En Peru Suriya En Veedu India will entertain the audiences this summer.
While May 9 will only see one release Nadigaiyar Thilagam, May 11 will have three films playing in Tamil theatres — Vishal’s Irumbu Thirai, Bhaskar Oru Rascal and Iravukku Aayiram Kangal. Next on the list is May 18 release Kaali.
However, it will only be in June when a big-ticket Tamil film will come to the cinema halls. Rajinikanth’s Kaala is set for a June 7 release and the state’s film business is pinning a lot of hopes on the Tamil superstar’s newest offering. The theatres are clear that they will prioritise Kaala as they are desperate for a biggie to bring back audiences to the halls.
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But even Kaala had to bear the brunt of the impasse between the Tamil theatre owners and producers over lowering rates of Virtual Print Fees (VFP). Kaala, which was earlier scheduled to release on April 27, was postponed to June due to the standoff.
But as soon as the matter came to a settlement, Kaala was given release priority after the insistence of theatre owners.
While there are around 10 films releasing in May, all of them are small and medium budget films and the industry is in need of a blockbuster.
Although Hollywood release Avengers: Infinity War started on a positive note in Tamil Nadu with first day collections pegged at Rs 78 lakh and initial weekend earnings at Rs 13.20 crore, there is need of a big Tamil film to woo the state’s audiences as 85 per cent of screens in Tamil Nadu, especially in small towns and rural areas, depend on new Tamil content to feed their theatres.
In addition, media reports are saying financiers are reluctant in backing Tamil films, which in turn is resulting in delay in release of films.
Summer vacations are lucrative for box office collections. If the Tamil film business fails to ring cash registers during this time, it will spell bad news for the segment as it has already seen a 5 per cent de-growth in net domestic collections, which declined from Rs 9.96 billion in 2016 to Rs 9.46 billion in 2017. Footfalls also dropped from 140 million in 2016 to 126 million in 2017, according to a Ficci & EY 2018 report.