Fans of Ajith Kumar throng cinemas in Tamil Nadu for Valimai tickets. (Photo: Twitter/RamCinemas) With the third wave of Covid infections waning, the states across the country have lifted restrictions, allowing the cinemas to resume their business as usual. Even as a few new movies were released in the past few weeks, none were big enough to put the sparkle back on the silver screens. However, that’s set to change from this week.
South superstars Ajith Kumar’s Valimai and Pawan Kalyan’s Bheemla Nayak are set to mark the beginning of a high-voltage movie season, which is expected to allow the cinemas across the country an opportunity to make up for all the losses they have suffered since the outbreak of the Covid in 2020.
Ram Muthuram Cinemas, one of the popular single-screen theatres in Tirunelveli, on Sunday tweeted the photos of the crowd thronging its counters to grab the tickets in advance for Valimai. The pictures and the videos from the theatres showed the crowd of young fans cramming the lobby of cinemas without any fear of the pandemic.
— Ram Muthuram Cinemas (@RamCinemas) February 20, 2022
Valimai is due in cinemas on February 24. Written and directed by H Vinoth, it is the first movie of Ajith to release in cinemas since Nerkonda Paarvai in 2019. And if the initial buzz from the cinemas in Tamil Nadu are anything to go by, the craze for Ajith Kumar’s comeback movie will only get bigger in the next few days.
Purely Raged mode 💥
This shows how eagerly #AK fans are waiting to witness #Valimai in our Screens !!வலிமையான முன்பதிவு நடைபெறுகிறது !!#ValimaiInRamCinemas 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xliAuDVoqE
— Ram Muthuram Cinemas (@RamCinemas) February 20, 2022
The trailer of Valimai had made a splash earlier, allowing the movie to create a strong buzz even in the neighbouring states of Kerala and Karnataka. Producer Boney Kapoor has decided to release the movie simultaneously in Telugu, and Hindi to cash in on the buzz. Valimai’s multilingual release makes it Ajith’s first pan-India and even the biggest release in his career.
Meanwhile, the craze over Pawan Kalyan is set to take over cinemas in the Telugu states. The filmmakers blindsided everyone when they announced that the movie will open in cinemas on February 25 as it was not expected to arrive in theatres before April. However, when the situation of the third wave of Covid came under control, the makers of Bheemla Nayak wasted no time in switching back to their earlier release plans.
Bheemla Nayak was supposed to release in January, coinciding with the Sankranti festival. The film’s release was postponed to February 25 at the request of the producers of RRR and Radhe Shyam to avoid these big stars’ movies eating into each other’s business. The onset of the new wave forced the cinemas to shut down the business again. According to reports, Bheemla Nayak is set to take a strong opening in the Telugu states.
Varun Tej’s Ghani and Sharwanand’s Aadavallu Meeku Joharlu, meanwhile, are contemplating new release dates to avoid the clash at the box office with Bheemla Nayak this week. Even though these filmmakers are yet to announce the decision to delay the release, it is only a matter of time. The makers of these movies are not actively promoting the movies like they were a few days ago.
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