Happy New Year Everyone
2017 came to an end too fast, a year full of tension and rush.
There were several occasions where I thought why not quit Insplag as my personal and professional life was so tightly packed that I had very little time to spend in social media. I might have left behind my aspirations to make it big in cinema. I left them, but was never able to forget cinema. That passion is the only thing that is keeping Insplag alive.
Enough sentiments,
So what's up with Kollywood in 2018's first quarter ?
Last year was one of the worst for Kollywood. A biggie's loss will be higher than the profits of a small or medium budget film. Last year except Mersal, all biggies left buyers with holes in their pockets. While bad content was the reason for this, Kollywood didn't get enough time to think about it because of GST & Local Body Entertainment. A film's success has become dependent on lot of external factors, not only content.
Read : Has Kollywood dug its own grave ?
PONGAL 2018 :-
Only 3 films will release and the rest can release only posters with the tag "PONGAL RELEASE", they won't get enough theaters.
EXPECTED FINAL 3 :-
1) THAANAA SERNDHA KOOTTAM
2) SKETCH
3) GULAEBAGHAVALI
THAANAA SERNDHA KOOTTAM :-
Suriya is currently going through the worst phase of his career, courtesy of Anjaan. His upcoming film Thaanaa Serndha Koottam was almost stalled during the final schedule.
Original plan :-
TSK was started as a quickie in November 2016 and was supposed to be ready by April. As per their original plan, Studio Green was to launch the first look on April, teaser on May with Audio & Trailer on June followed by Theatrical Release in July.
However, KE Gnanavelraja's financial situation worsened. His debt ridden position traces its origin back to Alex Pandian, Azhaguraja & Biriyani. He was somehow still surviving thanks to Madras & Komban which got Karthi back to form.
But more than a month later, Suriya's Masss drove them back to where they started. Theaters and Sub distributors pinned huge amount of money on the film trusting Suriya's instinct in script choosing. To the shock of everyone, this supernatural masala film opened to very low occupancy and was removed from all main centers within 17 days despite getting reasonably better reviews and response than Anjaan.
To compensate Masss's losses, Suriya agreed to keep his planned rural action entertainer with Director Hari in the backburner to do Singam 3 instead. Hari reluctantly agreed and started pre-production work and scripting on Singam 3 when Suriya was busy with his big budget home production 24.
Read : The Butterfly Effect : Repeated Postponements of Singam 3
With Singam 3 bombing after multiple postponements. Studio Green had to disassociate itself from films like Maayavan and Hara Hara Mahadevaki. The latter was released a couple of months later by Gnanavelraja through another company.
Thaanaa Serndha Koottam began its final schedule in March when creative differences cropped up between Gnanavelraja & Director Vignesh Shivn. While Vignesh Shivn wanted a partial re-shoot as he wasn't satisfied with few scenes, Gnanavelraja wanted TSK to be more appealing for the masses.
Unfortunately before they could settle their differences. Financiers came knocking Studio Green's door, this resulted in both the re-shoot and final schedule getting delayed. There was a point of time, where everyone in the film industry thought Gnanavelraja was going to be bankrupt. But Allu Aravind came in the last minute to bail out Studio Green. With the timely financial aid, TSK's final schedule, songs and reshoots were slowly progressing. Allu Aravind's sons Allu Arjun and Sirish were close friends of Suriya and since Gnanavel is attached to the production of Allu Arjun's first Tamil film, Aravind wanted Studio Green to be financial healthy to launch his son in Tamil.
Understanding Gnanavel's financial situation, Vignesh felt it was not the right time to argue and decided to implement his producer's inputs in TSK without any questions.
After a long struggle, Gnanavel sought Sivakarthikeyan's help, as the latter agreed to do a film with Studio Green couple of years back, Sivakarthikeyan decided to honor his commitment and signed on to star in Vignesh Shivn's immediate next film. Studio Green was able to sell SK-Vignesh Shivn film, Singam 3 & TSK Satellite rights to Sun TV as a package. This deal temporarily stabilized their financial stand.
Last week, Gnanavelraja agreed to pay 15 crores to ensure Thaanaa Serndha Koottam gets a smooth release. Gnanavel seemed pretty confident after watching TSK's first copy and assured he will repay his remaining debts including issues related to Uttama Villain gradually after the film's release.
TSK is based on the real life unsolved 1987 Opera House Heist. To avoid copyright issues, Gnanavelraja bought Special 26 Tamil Remake Rights. The Hindi film showed its lead character portrayed by Akshay Kumar seeking revenge against CBI after his dreams of joining them crashed. Special 26 was a serious thriller from start to finish.
Vignesh Shivn's version on the other hand has been treated very differently with Suriya's characterization said to be one of the film's highlights. His character undergoes transitions from a fun loving person to a helpless unemployed man.
The last time Suriya tried his hand at comedy was in Aadhavan. Though his character sketch in TSK gets its roots from Suriya's work in Pithamagan & Aadhavan, the comedy in TSK is more situational and won't be a mere imitation of his earlier roles . In the character's later phase as a person frustrated with the unemployment crisis, Suriya takes inspiration from Kamal Haasan's cult films apart from his own works.
TSK is not an out and out Suriya film, Ramya Krishnan (Based on Anupam Kher from Special 26) and veteran comedian Senthil also have meaty roles.
Unless Suriya-Keerthy Suresh extended portions and song placements (Peela Peela) play spoilsport, TSK is a winner.
The Pongal Dark Horse : GULAEBAGHAVALI :-
After Devi's surprise success, Prabhudeva is back with an action comedy entertainer. Since Devi managed to survive stiff competition from REMO and emerged as a hit back in Pooja Holidays 2016. There is a good chance for Gulaebaghavali to do the same.
A low budget film Maduraveeran however is still desperately trying for Pongal release because the film is set with Jallikattu backdrop which was a national sensation last year.
IRUMBUTHIRAI : ANOTHER UNEXPECTED SURPRISE FROM VISHAL ?
Vishal - Arjun's Irumbuthirai is a Techno Thriller about the feud between an Army Major Kathiravan (Vishal) and a cyber criminal white_devil (Arjun). This film will have more mind games than choreographed fight sequences between the hero and villain. Vishal is hoping Irumbuthirai will also be a surprise hit like his previous film Thupparivaalan. Has Puratchi Thalapathy finally learnt his lesson after 4 consecutive disasters ? or is he is gonna go back to doing crap films like Kaththi Sandai ? Only time will tell .
ANOTHER PROMISING FILM FORCED TO COMPROMISE :-
Imaikkaa Nodigal was among the most awaited films of 2017. Apart from Anurag Kashyap's casting as the villain. The teaser's modest reach and Hip Hop Tamizha's hit single Kadhalikadhe managed to keep expectations alive but that was temporary. Shooting delay not only made the film go over budget but also resulted in missing good release dates. With 2.0 scheduled for April 13th Release and many biggie scheduled in January, Imaikkaa Nodigal has been forced to settle for February release.
Last year saw many deserving films like 8 Thottakkal, Pandigai, Thiruttuppayale 2 & Maayavan failing commercially despite positive reviews.
The industry hopes fate is more kinder to films like Imaikkaa Nodigal. Talk is they have good content and really hoping Imaikkaa Nodigal at least manages to have a decent run and recover costs.
Dhanush's Enai Noki Paayum Thota & Venkat Prabhu's multistarrer Party are also targeting Feb/March release .
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