Etharkkum Thunindhavan : Suriya takes no logic route : It is no Pandiraj film either

 Etharkkum Thunindhavan is meant to tell that Suriya is still a MASS hero and Director Pandiraj to achieve this had to wear the cap of Hari ( remember Singham)  most of the times and revert back to his trademark films with joint rural families and their lives with some humour and goody goody characters. So you are caught in between these stools. Pandiraj fails to be a Hari and here Suriya goes amok to cover it up. You get two stunt scenes that will be greatly applauded by Balayya fans. ( Suriya cannot ignore the Andhra fans ).

To those have seen Suriya's SP and Jai Bhim on OTT, it is  in your own good that you stay away. To put it lightly,  what if the lawyer in Jai Bhim got the Pollachi sex case and he got fed up and put away  his black gown and decided to flex his muscles to win the case. For any MASS hero you need a strong villain. It need not be brawn but brains too.  Here the villain has neither of this - a sissy played by Vinay. Priyanka Mohan does what is expected of her.

This pattern of a emotional scene followed by fight - song - comedy and back to emotion has been brought back by Pandiraj. If there is anything that deserve high rating is cameraman Rathnavelu and his work. Imman is the next after him with his music and BGM,

Are theater owners helping PMK to stall Suriya film release ?

 Are theaters pulling out from screening Etharkkum Thunindhavan  for their own selfish gain and using PMK opposition as a reason ?. Sun Pictures ,the producer is seeing many theaters announcing in many districts that screening ET will be a risk and hence are screening Valimai as usual.. The reason being that Valimai run into third week will only give profits to theater owners. The PMK opposition to release of ET is on the grounds that Suriya's previous  film Jai Bhim released on OTT had hurt the sentiments of Vanniyar caste and the actor should tender a public apology. The youth wing head of PMK has asked theatres to not screen the film ET.

Though theaters in  North Districts being cautious can be reasonable as PMK can create trouble, In other areas too the film is being cold shouldered by movie halls. In Madurai, the film has lesser number of screens than what a usual Sun Pictures film gets. Valimai State distribution is done by Madurai Anbu.

Sources say that there is a conspiracy to yank the film off saying that Prabhas film Radhe Shyam is doing better as it is releasing one day later. Two weeks later comes RRR and ET will totally vanish. As  Suriya gave all his films ( acted and produced ) to OTT during Covid time, theater owners were wanting to teach him a lesson. As it was Ruling party backed Sun Pictures, there was nothing much to do. Now PMK has come as a  cover to hide behind  to hit at Suriya.   

PMK is politically weak and in last two polls got trounced badly.. However, the scare it can create in some Districts might keep the audience away. In Chennai, 16 shows per day are booked.in every release theater. 

In this proxy war between Theater owners and Suriya, caught is Sun Pictures. Sun Pictures  will get police backup and probably have PMK trouble makers picked up today night but theaters unwillingness and a silent word of mouth publicity  is what stumps them. Will Suriya fans help to turn the tide ?,

Suriya 's litmus test with Etharkkum Thunindhavan

 

Suriya's Etharkkum Thunindhavan releasing in theaters on March 10th is his first theater release since September 20 2019 , when Kappaan was released. In the period it between , he kept himself in public  by releasing his films on OTT platform. Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim are the two releases in last 2  years andmon Amazon Prime. Both the films were big hits on this  platform. 

Theater box office records his last release Kappaan as average which means that it gave a marginal profit. Just before  that in same year NGK was released. It received bad reviews all over and with OTT- TV rights, it could have covered the cost but for theaters it was a loss. In 2018, Suriya  gave a hit with Thaana serandu kootam. Suriya's Andhra - TS market will be also dicey as Prabhas Radhe Shyam is releasing on March 11.

Theater owners still have a grudge against Surya for giving two film to OTT. As ET producer is Sun Pictures, this will not be an issue. Secondly, Ajith's Valimai has not been the gold mine that theatres had hoped it would be. So ET is the next bet.

On the ground, realities are different. Firstly are the fan clubs mechanism operational at releasing stations and on social media ?  After a two year hiatus , are the fan clubs battle ready ?. Second is that unlike Ajith who came after Nerkonda Paarvai in 2019 and received a bumper opening with Valimai, Suriya is no King of Opening. Here again, March 10 is no festival date. The drawing power or the connect that he has kept through OTT releases with his core audience will be put to test. One is that a chunk of those who likes his films on OTT might wait it out to see on small screen and it means that ET will show whether he has his STAR power still intact or lost sheen. ET is said to be one of the big ticket films for Sun Pictures. As they hold the TV - digital- OTT rights, the investment will be recovered. The box office is very crucial for Surya as he comes after more than 2 years to seek theater goers approval, the real backbone of any movie Star The film is releasing in 5 languages
Career wise Suriya's future film outings are promising- a film with director Bala and Vetrimaaran