'Vedhalam' success: Endurance of mass masala films or is it the Ajith factor?
Few years back, there was a delusion that mass masala Tamil films were beaten to death. Producers, stars and filmmakers had felt that it’s indispensable for them to attempt unique genres to woo audiences. The larger-than-life hero was a symbol of 1980’s & 90’s mass commercials.
But it looks like, formulaic films won’t die easily. As a matter of fact, the genre seems to be immortal! Ajith’s Deepavali release Vedhalam proves that audiences are still hankering to watch well made commercial potboilers, which enthrall them.
At the same time, if things didn’t meet their expectations, people ostracize such films and ensure catastrophe—they never really mind whether a film was made at large scale or it’s out of the box attempt, all they want is entertainment.
Also, mass masala films yield the best result, when released during festivals. Rakesh Gowthaman of Chrompet Vettri theaters says : “Pongal and Deepavali are the two biggest festival seasons in Kollywood. Generally, people in IT sectors and students are the opening day crowd for all films, former has surplus amount of money while the latter spends their pocket money by watching movies. But during festivals, families of blue-collar folks too are flocking the theatres because they will get ‘special bonus’ and they prefer to spend it by watching festival releases. And they prefer big hero mass masalas. I would say Vedhalam’s major plus is the right time of release and perfect packaging”.
But trade pundits and film historians feel that Vedhalam has clicked only because of Ajith and the packaging. Dhananjayan, film historian says “Ajith has become a phenomenon. Just like how Rajinikanth was to the youth audiences in the 80’s and 90’s. Today Ajith has a huge fan following across social media and remote B and C centres in Tamil Nadu. And irrespective of reviews, his films always get good opening. Ajith is truly a phenomenon like Rajini, one can’t explain the magic in words”.
Trade analyst and senior journalist, Sreedhar Pillai also feels that the Ajith factor worked big time at the box-office. “I’ m sure Vedhalam wouldn’t have become such a big hit, if it had another hero. It’s Ajith’s charisma and Siva’s packaging that clicked among the masses. Siva knows the pulse of Ajith’s fans after the success of the combo’s previous hit Veeram“ adds Sreedhar Pillai.
Vedhalam has definitely has got a historic opening but the big question is, will it have consistent run? Especially with many critics have given it only average reviews. “Ajith’s major fan base is youngsters but in recent years, he is also attracting family audiences. For small theatres , opening weekend collections are more than enough to get back their investment but players like us (Vetri) and Rakki(Ambattur) need two to three weeks run, fingers crossed”, says Rakesh of Vetri Theaters.
Trade people say as of now, Vedhalam is a definite hit and cover its entire cost from Tamil Nadu theatricals. But it will be the second week run that will give us a clear picture on how big hit the film turns out to be at the box-office.
