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

Post Pushpa 1 , `Pan Indian' virus from South to shutdown Bollywood 2022

 South Indian movie industry is to flood North markets with `Pan Indian’ films in 2022. 20 such films are to come. 4 Kannada – 2 Tamil and 14 Telugu films are now classified ` Pan Indian’ and to hit Mumbai and North India. Out of these Ram Charan- S S Rajamouli with Baahubali series ,  Yash  with KGF and Prabhas with Saahoo have already made their entry in North markets and made a name for themselves with Hindi audience. Mani Ratnam fans are legion all over India and so PS 1 will have a ready audience. About others , let us wait and see.

First is RRR of Rajamouli – Ram Charan- Jr NTR. Heavy Hindi promotions in Mumbai with entire star cast- Salman Khan as Chief Guest, bus loads of fans from across the border ( Thackeray was not game to allow train loads from AP/TS). Next in line is Radhe Shyam of Prabhas. The Hindi songs are a hit. Sahoo though an average hit in Hindi, was a  flop in South.t. Now Prabhas back with a romantic movie. That takes care of January.

In Feb, Chiranjeevi tests Bollywood waters after 1992 ( Aak ka Goonda Raj). His Hindi dubbed films is main content of YouTube and Hindi movie channels. Viewers of Telugu movies dubbed into Hindi were washed away with  29 of his films  released in 2019 Acharya has Ram Charan as co- star. On RRR strength , Chiru garu will ride piggyback on RC and enter Bollywood. On Feb 5th, same day ET, the Suriya film will hit theaters. Suriya’s popularity after Jai Bhim OTT release will be put to test on big screen in the North markets.

Then comes Major – Advi Sesh film on Major Unnikrishnan life story.   Baaghi ( remake of Kshanam) did get a good response and so also another Telugu film. Producer Mahesh Babu and Sony, two producers might be big in South , but Sesh will have to start out from scratch. Next is Kiccha Sudeep with Vikrant Rona from Karnataka on Feb 24^th. As it comes from land of KGF, there could be an opening. Charlie 777 of Rakshit Shetty from Sandalwood town was to release in 2021 end but Shetty is looking for a date where there is no `Pan Indian’ films releasing. From Karnataka also is Kabaza with Upendra making a comeback with Kiccha in company. A gangster film that makers think has Pan Indian appeal. Darshan too from sandalwood has announced that his film Kranti has a Hindi belt appeal.

Next in line is Beast of Thalapathy Vijay. His film Master did get a good response in North India and Sun Pctures , the producers who would have by them released ET of Suriya in Hindi would do the same for Vijay. Followed by this is KGF 2. Sequel to a Super hit, Rocking Star Yash is set to do a repeat as response to trailor- teaser is phenomenal. Prabhas comes gain with Saalar and directed by Neel of KGF fame. This has him in an action mode. Followed by Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvam , magnum opus due for  Summer of 2022. If a hit in North Indian market, it could herald entry of another `Pan Indian’ Star-Vikram. Sundeep Kishan nephew of cinematographer of Chota Naidu is not a name to reckon with in South as actor but his film Micheal is slated for an All India release.

Vijay Devarakonda the Telugu romantic heartthrob popular through his dubbed films makes a straight Hindi film Liger and has Ananaya Panday for company. An August release, it is a film on boxing and real life boxer Mike Tyson plays a cameo. Prabhas again in Adipurush . This is actually a Hindi film directed by Om Raut with an all Bollywood cast- crew.

Shakunthalam will mark Samantha’s Hindi debut . Film is directed by Gunashekar whose Rudramadevi with Anushka was a Pan Indian release that was not liked in North India. Next is sequel to Alu Arjun’s Pushpa , which promises to make up for the thrills that were missing in first part.

If this g list of 18 films is long, there is two more Pan Indian – Prasanth Varma’s Hanuman and Ravi Teja’s Tiger. Now Bollywood upstarts say that only the YouTube channels showing dubbed films need be afraid and not them as they are REAL PAN INDIAN.