First Quarter of 2015: Hits & Misses
The first quarter of 2015 is over and 60 straight Tamil films were released from January 1 to March 31. Unlike previous years, the hit ratio is at an all time low. Just six out of 60 films can be considered as hit ventures which mean the hit rate is just 10% which is a serious concern for the investors in Tamil film industry.
None of the films released have made profits from theatricals alone. They are profitable for the producer from Tamil Nadu theatricals, sale of theatrical rights for overseas, Karnataka, Kerala, rest of India (domestic) and in some cases Telugu dubbing rights.
There are six films which can be termed profitable for the producer concerned from theatrical collections and sale of rights. The star movies which made money are Vikram’s Shankar directed I, Ajith’s Gautham Menon directed Yennai Arindhaal, Dhanush’s KV Anand directed Anegan and Sivakarthikeyan’s Kakki Sattai. Two small budget films- GV
Prakash’s Darling and Nakul’s Tamilukku En Ondrai Aluthavvum were hits considering their budgets.
Among the lot, the highest grosser so far is I, which did well in all markets. Yennai Arindhaal took a fantastic opening but turned out to be average in Tamil Nadu but did very well in overseas markets where it emerged as Ajith’s highest grosser. Similarly Kakki Sattai opened new foreign markets for Sivakarthikeyan. Dhanush’s Anegan did well in Tamil Nadu screens and overseas.
GV Prakash’s Studio Green distributed Darling did very well in Tamil Nadu theaters. Red Giants distributed Tamilukku En Ondrai Aluthavvum (TEOA) is a surprise hit, thanks to its low budget and good marketing.
Let’s take a quick re-cap on major hits and misses from January to March of 2015….
January
As usual, there were no big films during the New Year weekend as producers waited for the big pongal weekend. For Pongal 2015, we had Shankar’s Vikram starrer I, Vishal’s Aambala and music director GV Prakash Kumar’s debut hero film Darling. Among the three, I got mixed reviews but audiences gave a warm welcome for Vikram’s hard work and the film also ran well for ‘Brand Shankar’. The film went on to gross more than Rs 150 Cr at the worldwide box office and considering its high budget, still turned out to be a safe bet.
Trade reports say that ‘I’ is the second highest grossing Tamil film after Endhiran. Interestingly, competing with I, GV Prakash’s Darling become a profitable venture at the box office. Studio Green’s smart marketing and the horror-comedy genre got a favorable response among B & C audiences. Vishal’s Aambala only had a good opening but after that the film failed to sustain at the box office.
On January 30, SJ Suriya’s much delayed Isai released along with Bharath’s Killadi, SA Chandrasekar’s Touring Talkies, RK Selvamani’s Pulan Visaranai and a small film Dharani. Among the five movies, Isai got mixed reports and the film eventually ended up as a failure venture, mainly due to bad marketing.
January
Hits: I, Darling
Misses: Aambala, Isai
Pick of the month – I
February
February commenced with Thala Ajith’s Yennai Arindhaal which released on Feb 5. It took an astounding opening at the box office but the déjà vu factors from Gautham Menon’s previous movies and no tax exemption from Tamil Nadu government have certainly affected the film’s box-office in TN. But it did extraordinary business overseas and with sale of television rights made it profitable for producer AM Ratnam.
On February 13, Dhanush’s Anegan released and the film had positive reviews across the media and general public also gave a warm welcome for the film. KV Anand’s intelligent writing, Dhanush’s screen presence and AGS’ rich production values and tax free status made it a profitable venture at the box office.
On February 20, we had Sarath Kumar’s Sandamarutham, Red Giant Movies’ Tamiluku En Ondrai Aluthavum and Ettuthikkum Madhayaanai. Among the three movies, Tamilukku En Ondrai Aluthavum (TEOA) got favourable reviews and the film had a steady run at the box office, due to aggressive push by Red Giants.
On February 27, Sivakarthikeyan’s Kakki Sattai got released with mixed reviews but Escape Artists’ super promotions and Sivakarthikeyan’s star value made it as a profitable project.
February
Hits: Anegan, Tamilukku En Ondrai Aluthavvum, Kakki Sattai
Miss: Ettuthikkum Madhayaanai
Pick of the month- Anegan
March
March could be rightly called as the dullest month of the first quarter. There were no hits but every week had record number of releases and one could see an exponential increase in the number of releases with every given weekend of March.
Among 31 releases in the month it was Rajathanthiram and Kallapadam that got favorable reviews. While Rajathanthiram attracted the multiplex audiences, the other film failed to make much impact.
Comedian Rajendran starrer Ivanuku Thanila Kandam could be termed profitable considering the production cost. The biggest disaster of March was Jai’s Valiyavan as the film was made on a budget of 16 crores and figures prove that the film did not make one third of the production cost in its first week run.
March
Hits – None
Miss : Valiyavan
P|ick of the month- Rajathanthiram
