Filmworld
Southern cinema in 2015: Content ruled over star power in first half
Chennai, June 30
The first six months of 2015 saw approximately 280 releases in the
southern film industry, but performance-wise, it was a mixed first half.
The success of films such as "Kanchana 2", "Premam", "Pataas" and
"Kaaka Muttai" came as a surprise, but the failure of some
highly-anticipated, big-budgeted and superstar-driven films was
worrisome.
Of the record 107 Tamil releases, only 10 turned out
to be hits by reaping profits for their producers. Only five more
managed to break even.
"Compared to 2014, the first half of 2015
has witnessed an increase in hit percentage. However, most star-studded
films performed poorly at box office, resulting in heavy losses for
their stakeholders," trade analyst Trinath told IANS.
Ragava
Lawrence's horror comedy "Kanchana 2" and National Award winning drama
"Kaaka Muttai" reaped three to four times their investment.
While
"Kanchana 2" along with its Telugu dubbed version "Ganga" grossed over
Rs.100 crore worldwide on an investment of Rs.18 crore, "Kaaka Muttai",
which is still running in select cinemas, has raked in over Rs.15 crore.
"These
two films deserve the blockbuster tag. 'Kaaka Muttai' has proved that
audiences are hungry for good content," Trinath said.
Other
successful ventures include "Anegan", "Kaaki Sattai", "I", "O Kadhal
Kanmani", "Darling", "36 Vayadhinile" and "Demonte Colony".
"The
success of small films such as 'Darling', 'Demonte Colony' and 'Tamiluku
En Ondrai Azhuthavum' has given several young filmmakers the courage to
experiment. More producers are willing to bet on quirky subjects," he
said.
A big disappoint was Kamal Haasan- starrer "Uttama Villain" and Suriya's "Massu".
In the Telugu filmdom, the first six months have not been favourable.
Om
Deepak of AndhraBoxOffice, a popular box office portal, said: "As
usual, commercial entertainers have dominated and raked in decent box
office numbers. But when compared to the first half of 2014, there's a
dip in overall collections by minimum 20 percent due to a fewer big
releases."
The delay of big-budget movies such as "Baahubali",
"Kick 2", "Rudhramadevi" and "Srimanthudu", which were originally slated
for summer release, has also impacted the numbers.
"Generally,
summer will witness release of at least three big films. This year, the
only notable big release was Allu Arjun's 'S/O Satyamurthy'. As a
result, the box office occupancy has been lowest this summer in this
decade," Deepak said.
Kalyan Ram's "Pataas", with a worldwide
gross of Rs.29 crore, is the most profitable film and a blockbuster in
every sense. Junior NTR's "Temper" (Rs.74 crore) and Sundeep
Kishan-starrer "Beeruva" (Rs.10 crore) were hits with minor profits.
Amongst
high grossing films which suffered minor losses, "S/O Satyamurthy"
leads with Rs.90 crore , followed by "Gopala Gopala" (Rs. 66 crore) and
"Pandaga Chesko" (Rs.29 crore).
Telugu filmdom also saw a bevy of
Tamil dubbed releases. Out of them, the only profitable venture was
"Ganga" (Rs.31 crore). Though the Telugu version of Shankar's "I"
grossed Rs. 44 crore, the film was a disaster.
"It was a poor
first half for Telugu industry, which had approximately 54 releases.
Expectations are sky-high on 'Baahubali' and 'Srimanthudu', and the
success of these films is very essential for the industry, especially
after the bad start," Trinath said.
Of the four southern industries, Malayalam filmdom had a decent first half with better success rate.
The
unexpected success of "Premam", which has given its lead actor Nivin
Pauly a superstar status, has given the industry the biggest hit.
"The
film continues to run to packed houses in its fourth week across the
country. It has already raked in over Rs.30 crore at the ticket window.
It's turning out to be the highest grossing film in the history of the
Malayalam industry," distributor Arvind Nambiar told IANS.
Of the
67 Malayalam releases, films such as "Mili", "Picket 43", "Fireman",
"100 Days of Love", "Oru Vadakkan Selfie", "Ennum Eppozhum", "Bhaskar
the Rascal" and "Chandrettan Evideya" tasted success.
"Some of
these hits are already being remade in other languages. 'Oru Vadakkan
Selfie', for instance, which is being remade in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi,
Marathi and Bengali, earned nearly Rs.20 crore from theatricals alone.
It's phenomenal," Nambiar said.
Mammootty-starrer "Bhaskar the Rascal", whose Telugu rights have already been acquired, collected triple its overall cost.
Some highly anticipated films that bombed, include "Laila O Laila", "Mariyam Mukku" and "Chirakodinja Kinavukal".
The
Kannada industry, which saw 55 releases in six months, suffered heavily
due to the poor show of most big ticket films. Sadly, there hasn't been
a single big hit.
" 'Mr. and Mrs. Ramachari', which released in
the last week of last year and ran through most of the first quarter of
2015, is the most successful film. It could even be called a superhit as
it collected nearly Rs.50 crore during its run," trade analyst and
distributor Ramesh Gowda told IANS.
Big films such as "Ranna", "Vajrakaya", "Rana Vikrama" and "Siddhartha" did decent business and recovered money.
"Both
'Ranna' and 'Rana Vikrama' raked in over Rs.10 crore in its opening
weekend, but failed to sustain. This has been the case with most
star-centric films across the industries," Gowda said.
Other
outings such as "Shivam", "Kushi Kushiyali", "Jackson" and "Raja
Rajendra" managed only average business at the box office.
Director Yograj Bhat's highly anticipated film "Vaastu Prakaara" opened to good numbers but failed to make it big.
(Haricharan Pudipeddi can be contacted at [email protected])