The year 2018 has proved to be a remarkable one for Tamil cinema in more ways than one. While big-budget movies like 2.0 put Indian cinema in the global spotlight, content-based small-budget films such as Pariyerum Perumal , Raatchasan , 96 and Vada Chennai won critical acclaim.
On the whole, the year saw a larger share of movies performing well at the box office.
Lack of screens
It could have been better, but one major issue faced by filmmakers in 2018 was the lack of availability of screens, particularly small- and medium-budget movies.
On an average, Tamil cinema produces over 200 films every year, among the highest in the Indian film industry.
However, this year, analysts pegged the number of releases at a little less, around 180. Despite fewer releases, the year remained chaotic as too many films clashed on the same day, thereby eating up each other’s screen and revenue share.
For instance, December 20-21 alone saw five movie releases such as Vijay Sethupathi’s Seethakaathi , Vishnu Vishal’s Silukkuvarupatti Singam , Jayam Ravi’s Adanga Maru , Dhanush’s Maari-2 and the Sivakarthikeyan-produced Kanaa .
“Tamil Nadu is not like Delhi NCR or Gurgaon, where the whole city is dominated by multiplexes; here single- and double-screen theatres are major contributors to the industry,” said Rakesh Gowthaman, MD, Vettri cinemas. “A double-screen theatre can maximum take up 2-3 movies at a time,” added Gowthaman.
Shutdown
The industry, which is already saddled with a high number of releases, faced a further blow in the form of a 48-day shutdown in April called by the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) in protest against the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) charged by digital cinema technology companies like UFO and the Qube.
Ever since the stalemate ended in June, movies that were stacked up for release crowded the theatres over the months. While big movies like Rajinikanth’s 2.0 and Vijay’s Sarkar released on a record number of screens, small and medium films were crowded out or left to fight for themselves.
“Within a week of Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vanam , movies like Raatchasan , 96 and NOTA were released, killing the prospects of the previous movie,” said Gowthaman.
While movies such as Raatchasan , Pariyerum Perumal , Vada Chennai and 96 were critically acclaimed for providing content-driven cinemas, they could not convert the success into box-office gains as too much of movie supply left the movie exhibitors with no choice but to reduce the screens or remove them altogether.
“If Raatchasan had released on a different date, it would have been the year’s biggest grosser,” he added. Lack of movie-release regulations and the ineffective ‘Release Regulation Committee’ created by the TFPC created discontent among the film producers, who accused the TFPC and it’s president, actor Vishal, of failing to safeguard small and medium budget films.
Producer Dhananjayan, and actor Vishnu Vishal whose films suffered due to crowding, took on social media to publicly express their disappointment with the TFPC and its regulations.
“Logically, the 900 screens in Tamil Nadu can run only 4 shows per day which means 3600 screens are available,” said producer Dhananjayan, adding that if 6 films release at the same time, then each one would get only 600 screens.
He said new screen additions would help stakeholders in the value chain since theatre owners can better manage their releases and for the audience, it would be convenient to have theatres close to their locations.