2009 saw a record number of tamil releases-125, the highest in two decades.
On October 30, tamil cinema hit the fastest hundred in its history as the 100th film of 2009, Kanden Kadhalai released. never before has the tamil film industry crossed 100 releases in October alone. A boom in production of small films ensured a record number of releases.
However on the downside it has been a bad year as there has been only one blockbuster (Ayan), two super hits (Nadodigal, Padikkathavan) and several sleeper hits (Siva Manasulla Sakthi, Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, Yaavarum Nalam, Eeram, Unnaipol Oruvan, Pasanga, Masilamani Kanthaswamy, MayandiKudambathar, Aadhavan, Kanden Kadhalai).
It clearly means only six out of the 125 films were profitable from tamil nadu theatrical rights alone. the other eight films may have broken even and made a small profit if revenue from other channels - television, Overseas, telugu dubbing or remake rights and Indian domestic rights from theatre screenings (Kerala, Karnataka and Mumbai multiplexes) are taken into consideration.
the remaining 85 per cent films released during the year are nothing worth writing about and many of them may not recover the cost of their prints and publicity.
the reason for the boom in production and large number of releases is that a lot of nRI and local businessmen are getting lured into film production without understanding the economics of filmmaking. the audiences are smart as they are rejecting these films wholesale.
A small film of 2008, Subramaniapuram was made on a budget of Rs 2.75 crore, which went on to make over Rs 14 crore and became a blockbuster. the same director, Sasikumar's next film, Nadodigal cost Rs 7.5 crore and went on to collect Rs 15 crore from theatre screenings.
Similarly, noted director Ameer made his offbeat super hit trendsetter Paruthiveeran with Suriya's brother Karthi as hero, for Rs 3.5 crore in 2007, it went on to do business worth Rs 12 crores. At the same time it took Ameer nearly three years to make and release his next film, Yogi in which he debuted as action hero and cost him Rs 11 crores, but the film has turned out to be one of the biggest flops of the year! As leading producer G Dhananjayan of Moser Baer Entertainments says, "the trend setting directors who made films on a shoe string budget and were successful with their first film, increased their budgets by over 100 percent for their second films overnight and ended up with huge losses. the basic reason for the failure of their films was that they increased stars' salaries, made their films technically savvier with DI, graphics, rich locales for their songs without paying any attention to the script."
Another reason is the blood and gore in tamil cinema. this year, nearly 20 films have got either `A' or `U/A' certificates with cuts. the success of a few films which glorified violence has led to a situation where violence has become a part of the new formula for small films. Like a few years back in telugu, a lot of films were based on `faction feuds of the Rayalseema area,' in tamil now most such films are set in the killing fields of south tamil nadu, mainly Madurai where caste and political rivalry lead to murder. the blood and gore of `made in Madurai movies' has put off many. Renigunta, a film on a group of teens turning into hired killers, which was rejected by the regional Chennai censors got through the revising committee with an `A' certificate. the opening was very good but in most of the theatres, there were hardly any female viewrs.
Meanwhile 2009 also saw the further erosion in superstar ratings in the trade as many of the distributors could not recover the cost at which they purchased the film.
2009 also saw the emergence of Suriya as a superstar, with a terrific opening. His KV Anand directed Ayan is the only blockbuster of the year so far.
Ayan was the third biggest hit in tamil cinema crossing Vijay's Pokiri :banghead: and behind Dasavatharam and Sivaji.
Aadhavan was another masala-thriller by K S Ravikumar, the director of Dasavatharam. While it didn't set the box office on fire, with its star power, good music and promotion it ended up as an above-average grosser cementing Surya's position as a star that sells in the cities and towns.
(Please note Vijay's Vettaikaran is not being considered as the film released only on December 18). Among heroines, it was tamannaah who ruled the roost.
Ayan and Padikkathavan made her the new numero uno actress of tamil as all top heroes wanted to sign her. nayanthara lost the race with Sathyam, Aegan and Villu failing at the box office. trisha didn't fare all that well either in Sarvam and Shriya could not create any impact with Kanthasamy.
Kanthaswamy grossed Rs 24 crores in its first week (16 crores from tamil nadu, 2 crores from Kerala Karnataka, 6 crores from telugu) proving that he is still a superstar at the box office. But due to the weak content, the movie fizzled out at box office.
In tamil nadu, producers serious about their business are a handful. the influx of inexperienced newbies, can do little to better the situation. Meanwhile artist remuneration and production costs are only skyrocketing .
Yet nobody seems to be bothered, with most superstars having increased their salaries twofold this year. Curiously enough, there seems to be no dearth of producers hankering after them for dates.
Pretty much every nRI producer worth his million is being lured by the tamil film bug to produce movies; often with any bloke who might be available at the moment.
this of course has resulted in a situation where a new actor is born every Friday, only to be handed out his obit the day after!
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