Past and OTT haunts Yogi Babu

 

Will OTT  kill Yogi Babu’s market ? He asks producer’s to not use his solo photos in posters of films where he is not the lead hero or has a long running role as a comedian. The appeal put out by him has led to a producer of a film Dhowlath to go public that he has paid for 5 days work and the actor has dubbed in his own voice. This film was shot at a time when Yogi Babu was just a fatso with a funny hairdo who worked as Assistant on the sets of a comedy show in Vijay TV. The producer says that the press report said Yogi Babu  had nothing to do with the film and distributors backed out.

Yogi Babu’s present stature is that of what Goundamani- Senthil and Vadivelu commanded earlier at the box office. Distributors paid more money or showed interest only if these actors were in the film. They were an added bonus to a movie. In rural and semi- urban areas, the comedians if they clicked were in great demand by the audience. Like his predecessors, Babu charges Rs 20 Lakhs a day for a 24 hr call sheet. The rise to popularity came with with Vishal's 'Pattathu Yaanai and cemented it with  Maan Karate the Sivakarthikeyan starrer. Babu's portrayal as 'Panni Moonji Vaayan' in the movie 'Yaamirukka Bayamey' , Vijay Sethupathi's 'Aandavan Kattalai'.  Nayanthara’s 'Kolamavu Kokila' , 'Pariyerum Perumal' and 'Comali'  strengthened his career. His Chennai slang became a hit like Vadivelu’s Madurai accent.

In films where he did main roles like Gurkha, Dharmaprabhu or Zombali had given the trade the profit. Directors have to put up with his on the spot addition of dialogues at shooting and sneaking in one liners during dubbing. The repetition and stale one liners that are bound to creep in with an actor who has no clue about the script and relies n his body language is bound to happen.

The OTT platform has now come to be a big headache to Babu. Many films that he acted in a few scenes have surfaced and some have found their way to the virtual ground. To make a visitor to choose the film, producer’s use his mug on the poster. All this films have bombed. Till theaters are open more Babu `delights’ are in the pipeline. Those who have paid through their nose to produce film with Babu in the lead are now wondering if their films will be seen as another hoax. The only way is that Babu tells the public each time film’s release  comes up as to whether he is doing a full length role or a few scenes.

It comes to my mind an incident that took place. A Malayalam film directed by Captain Raju and produced by his relative had Vikram and Laila (her debut) in it. Both the actor’s became hot favourites in Tamil. Raju who suffered a loss found a buyer for Tamil dubbing rights.  He came to Chennai and I went with him to meet Vivek , a top comedian. Raju wanted him   to act in  a 2000 ft comedy track to be added to the dubbed version. Vivek  went inside and came out and said that he spoke to Vikram who gave clearance ( legally not needed) to go ahead. Vikram told him that it was producers like Raju who kept his home fire burning in the struggling days and if they got any money, he was only too happy. Raj went one step ahead and titled the film Thrill as Vikram- Lalila ‘s Tamil film Dhill was a hit. He got Manthra, a sex bomb to dance for a song with lyrics that contained titles of all Vikram films. The best part was that a music director like Johnson who scored in the original was replaced by Deva in the Tamil posters. I heard the distributors did make money but the public was not deceived by the Captain like moves.