Comments
When Rajinikanth’s magnum opus 2.0 and Vijay’s Diwali release Sarkar hit 700-800 screens across Tamil Nadu, small and medium budget films were left gasping for space. They are now fighting a bitter battle for screen space as the financial burden due to the prolonged wait is hurting.
This has led to an infighting in the industry as the smaller players are questioning the ability of the Tamil Film Producer Council (TFPC) to regulate releases in a manner that is fair to low-budget films. The Council recently relaxed its Release Regulation Committee rules to allow producers to release any number of movies during the upcoming Christmas and Pongal festival seasons.
As a result, the Christmas weekend will see a clash of five movies, with Vijay Sethupathi’s Seethakaathi releasing on December 20, while Vishnu Vishal’s Silukkuvarupatti Singam , Jayam Ravi’s Adanga Maru , Dhanush’s Maari-2 and Sivakarthikeyan’s Kanaa will hit the screens on December 21.
Small-budget movies such as Atharvaa’s Boomerang are likely to back out despite getting the December 21 release slot.
“This is a complete system failure. Instead of helping small and medium films, the committee is only facilitating release of big movies by cautioning us to stay away,” rues actor Vishnu Vishal, whose maiden production venture had to clash with four medium-budget films.
“This is the second time I am being punished for following the Committee’s rules,” adds a dejected Vishal.
The Producer Council had earlier allotted October 5 for the release of Ratsasan , Vishal’s earlier movie along with Vijay Sethupathi’s 96 . But much to the dismay of both, Vijay Devarakonda’s NOTA was allowed to release by the regulation committee even as Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivandha Vaanam and Pa Ranjith-produced Pariyerum Perumal released in the previous week, and occupied a good number of screens.
Not quite by the book
The Release Regulation Cmmoittee was set up in April to de-clutter releases and to ensure that small-budget films get adequate screen share. According to the committee rules, only one big or medium-budget movie will be allowed for release along with two-three small-budget movies at a time.
“It is well known that Tamil cinema produces many movies every year, but that doesn’t mean we should kill each other,” says film producer G Dhananjayan, whose recent production Kaatrin Mozhi faced similar issues after TFPC allowed Vijay Antony’s Thimiru Pudichavan to release on November 16, tweaking the release rules.
While Thimiru Pudichavan originally got November 6 release date, the producers could not find buyers due to the absence of screens as Vijay’s Sarkar made a big Diwali opening.
“While we planned to release Kaatrin Mozhi on 250 screens in Tamil Nadu, we could get only 165, which affected buyer sentiment,” adds Dhananjayan.
But members of the Producer Council feel that the committee can do little unless there is cohesion among producers and big film makers understand the plight of the smaller ones.
“Disbanding the committee will only hurt small-film makers more. They at least have this forum to highlight their grievances and assert their rights,” says SR Prabhu, Producer and TFPC Treasurer.
“We have adequate screens to accommodate all movies but if all the 180 movies need a December release what can we do about it?” asks Abirami Ramanathan, President, TN Multiplex Theatres’ Association.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.