BENZ set in Pre Leo Era / After OTT Release Tourist Family still collects / Kamal's Thug Life costumes

 

If Madonna is reprising the role of Elisa sister of Leo in Benz then is the film set in a period much before Leo ? Elisa is killed in Leo ‘s flashback scenes and Vijay decides to take up a new identity as Leo. Benz stars Raghava Lawrence in the titular role, while Nivin plays Walter the antagonist. One out of three leading ladies links Benz to Leo. What has Benz been doing in the years following his own story ? Could Walter be the elder brother of Rolex (Vikram’s antagongonist)

When it comes to storytelling, costume designer Amritha Ram considers Mani Ratnam a “magician”. Her belief was strengthened further when she worked with the filmmaker on Thug Life, styling Kamal Haasan in the action drama. “I see why Mani sir and Kamal sir get along. Their discipline and homework is spot on. Before beginning work, Mani sir gave a holistic understanding of the world. Then we did character analysis. The film is divided into three parts in terms of looks — Kamal sir’s Delhi portions, then Nepal, and Japan. The look requirements were locked in the research phase,” she explains.

Thug Life — also starring Silambarasan TR, Trisha Krishnan, and Abhirami — sees Haasan as a gangster who is betrayed by those closest to him. When crafting his look, Ram says the challenge was to capture both the superstar’s gravitas and the character’s reinvention. “We crafted a look that’s edgy yet timeless, keeping Kamal sir’s larger-than-life persona in mind,” she reveals. 

The most challenging part was cracking Haasan’s look for the Nepal portions of the narrative. “The look needed to be minimalistic and rooted in Nepal. Zeroing in on that was hard, because it had to be balanced while capturing the maximalism of the region’s cultural tapestry. It became my favourite look,” she exclaims.

M Sasikumar’s film arrived on JioHotstar on June 2 and has been getting love from the OTT audiences, but it is getting enough love from the theater audiences as well. In 7 days, the film has earned a total net collection of 74 lakh at the box office!

After its OTT arrival on June 2, Tourist Family earned 26 lakh at the box office. Ever since the film churned out decent numbers, earning 20 lakh this weekend, June 6 – 8! On June 2, the day of the release, day 32, the film earned 63 lakhs! It would be interesting to see if the film closes its theatrical run this week.

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Check out the day-wise collection of the film in the theaters after its OTT release on JioHotstar!

• June 3: 26 lakh
• June 4: 19 lakh
• June 5: 6 lakh
• June 6: 3 lakh
• June 7: 5 lakh
• June 8: 7 lakh
• June 9: 8 lakh

Total: 74 lakh

 

Madonna in Leo - Adipurush a loss - Andhra - North India has no theatres for Jailer

The release of Rajanikanth's film, "Jailer," on August 10, is unlikely to have many theaters in North India. However, "OMG 2," "Animal," and "Gadar 2" are all scheduled to be released on August 11, which falls on the Independence Weekend. Both "Animal" and "Gadar 2" had previously announced their release for August 11, and now "OMG 2," starring Akshay Kumar, has also confirmed the same date. Consequently, three films in total have announced their release on the same date. Already Chiranjeevi's Bhola Shankar is releasing on August 11 and taking away major theatres in Andhra States.

People Media Factory, the company that acquired the global rights for Adipurush, is currently facing a potential loss of Rs 50 crores even before the film's release. While the producers Bhushan Kumar have managed to profit from the deal and the OTT rights, there is uncertainty about whether the movie will have a sustainable success after its initial opening. The underperformance of Radhe Shyam and the failure of Shakunthalam have made the industry wary and cautious. Additionally, even the successful Telugu films in the first five months of this year have not come close to matching the success of last year's hits.Ranbir Kapoor has made the decision to purchase 10,000 tickets for Prabhas' film Adipurush and distribute them among disadvantaged children. A portion of the Bollywood media is attempting to portray this act as another strategy employed by the producers of Adipurush to generate positivity and generate some buzz for the movie. Adipurush is being produced by Bhushan Kumar, who is also the producer of Ranbir Kapoor's film Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. They are making accusations that Bhushan Kumar of T-Series is acquiring these 10,000 and 15,000 tickets under the names of their acquaintances and actors. These allegations suggest that Bhushan Kumar himself will purchase the 10,000 tickets, but it will be projected as if Ranbir Kapoor has bought them and is distributing them among the children.

The theatre owners in Kerala have announced a two-day strike on June 7 and 8 in opposition to the early release of Malayalam films on OTT platforms. Despite the fact that a highly successful Malayalam film like 2018 was still performing well in cinemas, it was made available on OTT platforms less than five weeks after its theatrical release. The theatre owners are demanding that no film be released on OTT platforms until at least 90 days have passed since its theatrical release. A few months ago, the Tollywood industry also expressed its intention to take action against the early OTT release of theatrical films. However, this measure has not been implemented effectively, as many films are now opting for early OTT releases. The Telugu Film Chamber had previously agreed upon a minimum eight-week theatrical window for all films after extensive discussions and meetings with producers and stakeholders. Unfortunately, this rule has proven ineffective, as producers who have suffered losses from unsuccessful films are enticed by offers from streaming platforms for early OTT premieres. It is natural for producers to seek to recoup some of their losses by selling their films on OTT platforms. Even a high-budget film like "Agent" was initially scheduled to be released on OTT just three weeks after its underwhelming theatrical run, but the OTT premiere was delayed due to other factors. While these protests in the Malayalam industry may attract attention, it is unlikely that a rule mandating delayed OTT releases will endure in the face of financial considerations. Similar attempts in Tollywood have failed, and it is probable that the same outcome will occur in the Malayalam industry as well.

Madonna Sebastian, the popular Malayalam actress, was last seen in the Tamil film Vaanam Kottatum and also appeared in the Telugu web series Anger Tales. According to recent reports, she has been cast in a significant role in the highly anticipated film Leo, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and starring Vijay. In Leo, Thalapathy Vijay portrays the character of a gangster in his forties who resides in Kashmir and escapes the world of gang wars by managing a chocolate factory. Alongside Vijay and Trisha, the film boasts an impressive ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Priya Anand, Gautham Menon, Mathew Thomass, Mansoor Ali Khan, and Sand

Doctor clear Sivakarthikeyan's debts ? Kiccha Sudeep film will revive Kannada cinema ?

 Tamil Nadu box office is looking towards `Doctor' the Sivakarthikeyan film to bring  in big bucks and for the Star it is crucial as this film is an attempt to clear the debts he acquired through his own banner and that of his benami. Karnataka filmdom is looking at Kiccha Sudeep's Kottigobba 3 , the first Star film release after  Covid 2 to get the crowds back.

Though many films released in past one month, ` Doctor' is the first big budget film with a saleable Star that is releasing in Tamil Nadu. Previous film Hero of the same hero made a big hole in the pocket of producer KJR. KJR and Sivakarthikeyan had agreed to clear the debts by giving the distribution rights to those who lost money.

Unfortunately, the Covid 19 2nd phase put in a lockdown and theaters were closed. The deal between the hero's production company and KJR was that the former would finish the film for Rs 60 crores. As the delay came in , KJR had to pay interest for the capital put into the film. After much delay, Sivakarthikeyan agreed to take Rs 10 crore cut. Thus the film costs KJR Rs 50 crores.

The film's TV rights was sold to Sun TV close to Rs 9 crores as it was agreed that the film would release on Diwali day. As per the Theater norms, a gap of four weeks is a must between theater and TV telecast. The producer then decided to jump theater release from Diwali to Navaratri.

Business wise, the amounts committed to various distributors including Chennai - Madurai are only on paper as these areas are given as part of the agreement to compensate Hero film loss. If the film does more than the agreed price only will the producer will see any money. As it is known in trade circles, only if the film is a blockbuster , distributors will give share to producer. The failure of Hero has put Doctor biz in a spot as even other areas are too taken on distribution basis.

TV- OTT- Hindi- Telugu (Varun Doctor) dubbing and Karnataka - overseas rights have covered up the production costs. The best part of the deal is that despite the difficult times faced by KJR, Sivakarthikeyan has pocketed a salary of Rs 30 crores. Two more films - Don and Aaayalaan of the same hero are to release. Don is to release on April 14th.

Kottigobba 3 directed by debutant Shiva Karthik with Sudeep as hero is releasing on October 14 in 1000 screens across Karnataka, Madonna Sebastain is making her debut as heroine. The story is written by Sudeep himself. Kottigoba 2 ( one in a million) had Sudeep and Nithya Menen in the lead and was directed by K S Ravikumar. It was released in Tamil as Mudicha Ivana Pudi. Kottigoba released in 2001  with Vishuvardhan - Priyanka Upendra in the lead was a remake of Rajinikanth's Baasha. Except for the name, the subsequent films has no connecting storyline and none are  a sequel.