Pandemic releases Karnan, Vakeel Saab, Sulthan, Godzilla vs Kong momentarily revive South Indian box office

The South Indian film industry took a risk during the pandemic and chose to release its films. As a result, both the Tamil and Telugu film industries have reaped gold in spite of these testing times.

Master, Krack, Uppena, Jathi Ratnalu, RED, Naandhi, and Zombie Reddy are among some of the profitable Tamil and Telugu films in the first quarter of 2021. The dearth of new films in the last week of March was compensated by the Hollywood box office juggernaut Godzilla vs Kong.

It would be presumptuous to say that Godzilla vs Kong performed well only in cities and multiplexes. Ram Muthuram Cinemas, a popular two-screen multiplex in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli says the Hollywood film witnessed more popularity as compared to Tamil film Sulthan.

Still from Godzilla vs. Kong

"Sulthan was exceptional in the first week, but was overshadowed by Karnan. Still, the Karthi starrer earned profits for us. But the real surprise for us is Godzilla vs Kong. The film's profit margin was huge for us. We had continuously scheduled several shows for the film. With a crisp runtime and kids coming in, the canteen sales were also good for us. In fact, Godzilla vs Kong performed better than Sulthan in our theatre", says Ramasamy Raja of Ram Muthuram Cinemas.

Godzilla vs Kong reportedly grossed around 18.5 crores in Tamil Nadu, says a source in the trade.

"There were tremendous expectations from Dhanush's Karnan, right from the album to its teaser launch. As expected, the film lived up to its expectations. Being a film set in the Tirunelveli backdrop, audiences flocked to theatres. Karnan even performed than Dhanush's previous blockbuster Asuran. Due to popular demand, we played the film on both our screens. Previously, only Vijay and Ajith films had the privilege of running on both screens. ", he added.

Trade sources say that both Sulthan and Karnan entered into the profit zone for all the buyers and investors.

Popular film producer and historian Dhananjayan says "Karnan and Sulthan had the potential to score even bigger numbers but unfortunately due to the surge in COVID cases and the 50 percent occupancy (in cinemas), they couldn't fully achieve the true potential. Nevertheless, both the film are profitable to the buyers. We have to wait and see how the second wave of COVID19 treats us to announce releases".

Dhanush in Karnan

Sriram, the Creative Producer of Rockfort Entertainment, the production and distribution house that released Karnan in the Trichy area says "We have entered into the profit zone from Monday. The film has uniformly performed well in all areas across Tamil Nadu. While Master revived the theatrical business in the state followed by Godzilla vs Kong, Sulthan, and Karnan in Tamil Nadu, we are looking forward to the biggie that is going to revive the theatrical business after this ongoing unfortunate obstacle".

Ever since the Tamil Nadu and Telangana governments imposed night curfews, producers are reluctant to announce release dates for their projects. Sriram says that things were finally looking up for Tamil film producers as one big-budget project was slated for every month. These included Silambarasan TR's Maanaadu, Sivakarthikeyan's Doctor and Ayalaan, Ajith's Valimai, KGF: Chapter 2, Rajinikanth's Annaatthe, and Rajamouli's RRR. "Not sure, when we will return to normalcy again", says Sriram.

"More than good content, audiences are now preferring either mass masala entertainers, comedy entertainers, or films that excite us in theatres. They don't want emotional message-driven films in these testing times. They want to forget their worry and get entertained in theatres. The serious message-oriented films are being only watched on OTT. Producers should keep this fact in mind for their upcoming projects. Master, Sulthan, and Karnan had big stars. In Godzilla vs Kong, both Kong and Godzilla were celebrated in theatres like any other popular hero. To be precise, we need big star films or comedy entertainers like Parris Jeyaraj during this pandemic", says Rakesh of Vetri Theaters.

Tiruppur Subramanian, the President of Tamil Nadu Theaters Owners and Multiplex Association says "Master, Godzilla vs Kong, Sulthan, and Karnan are the profitable Tamil films of this year. The success of these films has given us the confidence that audiences are ready to watch good films in theatres. I'm sure once the situation returns to normalcy, people will come back to theaters. We have experienced it recently and I'm sure, the same would happen after a short break".

Ruben of GK Cinemas says "One thing is loud and clear, audiences in Tamil and Telugu are ready to watch films in theatres. We are hoping that the ongoing break will not be longer and expect big releases to hit the screens again in June".

Rakesh also feels that there wouldn't be any new releases till June. "A film like MGR Magan (Sasikumar's film) can release now as theatres would be giving bigger screens and four shows but even they have postponed their film. I don't think we would have a decent release till June of this year".

Pawan Kalyan's Vakeel Saab has grossed around Rs 135 crores, the highest among all the versions of Pink including the original. Karnan is said to the biggest blockbuster for Dhanush in Tamil Nadu and Sulthan, which released without expectations has also performed well in the trade.

Pawan Kalyan in a still from Vakeel Saab

Theatre owners, producers, and distributors say Tamil and Telugu film industries boomed after the washout 2019, but the second wave of COVID19 is giving them a tough time again. However, the fraternity is quite confident about the theatrical business which is here to stay, despite a wide array of new films available on streaming platforms.

However, exhibitors in North India have not had similar luck as most studios have dared not to release their films. The business there has been hit severely, and can only be redeemed if a title with a big name attached is released.

Vishek Chauhan, Exhibitor, Roop Pani Cinema says "Bollywood has missed the bus long back because here stars, producers, and directors are following the Hollywood model that they are comfortable making content for OTT platforms. They are mostly targeting the urban crowd. As a result, the sad state of affairs is that the number one movie at the Bollywood box office is Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, a dubbed film from the South. In simple terms, South producers and heroes are in love with the box office but stars in the North are afraid of the box office. Nowadays, there are no single screens/ theatres in most of the towns in North India because Bollywood is only making niche content.".

Chauhan says that Bollywood has outsourced box office blockbusters to the directors from the South. "Salman Khan is teaming up with Prabhu Deva, Shah Rukh Khan is likely to do a film with Atlee, and Ranveer is teaming up with Shankar. Bollywood needs South directors to deliver mass blockbusters. Also, once Salman, Aamir, and Akshay Kumar retire from the industry, none of the heroes other than Tiger Shroff is eligible to deliver content to small towns/ mass centers. Until they make content for the masses, they would only continue to destroy single screens. From the outsiders' point of view, Bollywood might look like a big industry but what a Vijay or Pawan Kalyan film pull off in a single state is still higher than the Bollywood films which release in multiple states across India. Here, stars are afraid to release their films amidst the pandemic unlike Vijay and Pawan Kalyan because their content is not for the masses, they are not sure whether people would come to theatres. Ideally, they should have released a few films at least from January".

Chauhan believes that choosing a direct-to-digital release for Salman Khan's Radhe is "unfortunate."

"As Bollywood inclines towards the Hollywood model, there is a huge demand for the mass films from the South. KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR have a huge potential here in the North. If big production houses from the South continue to release their films in the North, I'm sure, they will get a lucrative deal here", he signs off.