Sunday, April 24, 2022

Beast pushes down Kamal Haasan's Vikram film OTT prices

 The failure of `Beast' in the Hindi market ( theatrical) has affected the OTT price of many South films that had been riding on a ` pan Indian tag'. Kamal Haasan who has the tag of `Ulaga Nayagan' ( International Actor) given by fans is coming after a gap of 4 years with ` Vikram' that is scheduled to release on June 3rd. The actor who is also the producer was quoting a price that was on par with a Pan Indian film  with the OTT platforms. 

After the flop of `Beast'  the film which has Thalapathy Vijay as hero, Vikram stock has fallen. Vijay's BO rating is as high as Rajinikanth and much above Kamal Haasan in Tamil Nadu. The last release of Kamal was Vishwaroopam 2 that was an average grosser and nothing that electrified the box office. In the last four years, Kamal has floated his own party and is opposed to the two Dravidian majors. The fan base ( if any left) would have been divided. His party contested two elections and all the candidates including himself lost. Incidentally, the film is distributed by Red Giant Movies of Udaynidhi Stalin.

His only public outing has been the reality show Bigg Boss on Star Vijay. A  abridged version called Ultimate was telecast on Disney Hotstar and this  was a non starter as it was available to only those with Smart TV and Disney app. Nearing the end, Kamal quit hosting the show citing prior date issues.

Vikram has Faahad Fazil and Vijay Setupathi  to give a multiple language look. Amitabh Bachchan is said to have played a cameo. Lokesh Kanakraj,  the director had directed Vijay's Master and it was a block buster. It was dubbed and released in Hindi. With no promotion, it sank. Anirudh is the music director who has a high stock as his score for Beast is a hit across several languages especially the Arabic Kuthtu song. The story line of Vkram that is being circulated around, if true, is nothing novel.

The next big Pan Indian film is Ponniyin Selvan directed by Mani Rathinam with several South stars and  Aishwarya Rai. Mani's rating as a Pan Indian director is still high and commands a huge audience abroad. Film produced by Lyca , the film is fetching high prices in the OTT and digital rights market.  Here again what works for Mani is that the subject is a historical fantasy adventure film , a genre that clicked with Baahubali .franchise.

As per trade sources, only directors like Shankar, Rajamouli and Prasanth Neel who have added to Pan Indain list with Mani Rathinam are able to demand a price for their product. As Pushpa is a hit, the sequel has a high market value but the director does not and nor the hero Allu Arjun .  Prabhas Salaar commands a pan Indian price tag for the director Prasanth Neel as Prabhas Radhe Syam was a flop in Hindi.


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