Soorarai Pottru : Good acting by Suriya makes it worth a watch

If you are thinking that Soorarai Pottru is one hell of a biopic of a man who survived all odds to  launch a low cost airline , then forget it.  See it for Suriya who brings out his best , all round good performances, technically good and to see a film without any gore. 

I am tackling this film as just a movie goer who after lockdown has not seen any new Tamil STAR movie on OTT. Day in out, I could see Suriya's Singham and its sequels on TV.  Then comes some new Tamil movies on OTT. Though  not star backed, the films content was just pedestrian. So as we were resigning to the fate that till theaters open all substandard stuff is going to be premiered on OTT, when came the news that Suriya - hit director Sudha Kongara combo film made at a big budget is to premiere on Amazon.So it was like seeing  a watering hole in midst of a desert. Soon there was many against such a move and it looked like a mirage. Now it has come on our screens.

The success is the good casting support for Suriya and Aparna Balamurali ( though not a big surprise to Malayalam film goers as she has done this genre before), good camera work- music, use of punch dialogues at right moment and the image of pro poor hero (must for Star film) . So far we saw films on OTT and said that it would have failed in theaters but here is a film that would work with the fans and family crowd during a Diwali season.

If you don a critic's cap and even take into allowance that the film is loosely based on Capt R Gopinath of Deccan Airways, the so called cinematic liberties are just beyond the limits. The air accident - meeting with Abdul Kalam- begging for money to get executive class ticket by an IAF officer are over the top.  Wish real life was as good as reel - in Capt Gopinath's own words to The Quint  he said  that looking back, he feels that he should have not let Mallya take control of Air Deccan had he known that the owner Kingfisher Airlines would completely change his business model. Gopinath after this started an air cargo service Deccan 360 which was a flop. Then he contested the Lok sabha polls and lost. He has penned two books and is on the advisory panel of UDAAN.

Akshay Kumar Laxmi Bomb to release on OTT and theaters - Will Suriya's SP follow ?

 

Laxmi Bomb the Akshay Kumar- Kiara -Lawrence directed film is likely to have a simultaneous release in theaters and OTT. Nishabadam the Anushka film is to release in theaters as  Telangana exhibitors have told producers that they are willing to release films like V of Naani and even Nishabadam, both an OTT release. They are also willing to go for a simultaneous release of other films. Now the question is whether Tamil Nadu and other Southern States follow suit? This move would benefit theaters as it will bring back crowds in areas where OTT penetration is less. If Soorarai Pootru of Suriya will have a simultaneous release, it could be the biggest boost to theaters. “We are not sure if the Telugu producers will release their films immediately after the theaters open. We are fine to release the movies which already released on the OTT. We may even try to bring the audience to theaters with small films and old movies,” the Telangana exhibitors body said

Nishabdham’ couldn’t entertain the OTT audiences , as there was unanimous poor talk on the movie right from its first show on Amazon Prime. Not only the critics, but even audiences also expressed the same about the movie. Nevertheless, the producer of the movie, Vivek Kuchibatla was  planning to release the movie in January 2021 at limited theatres in India and also in a few countries like in the US, Japan , Australia, New Zealand and a few other countries. The producer thinks the failure of  ‘Nishabdham’ is because it is a  movie with appeal  to global audiences because of the presence of American actors and technicians. But, critics and audiences in India didn’t see the presence of American actors as an added advantage for the movie. The producers say, there weren’t many expectations on the movie prior to the OTT release. The trade thinks that the makers were lucky enough to choose the direct OTT release instead of waiting for a theatrical release. It would have been a washout,

Reliance , producers of Sooryavanshi, the Akshay film, has announced that it would not come for Diwali. This gives Laxmi Bomb the much needed time in the theaters and OTT to recover the money. It had already planned a simultaneous overseas release.  Hollywood studios are merging and Universal India operations will shut down and Warner Bros will be taking it over, In turn Universal will distribute Warner’s film in Australia and New Zealand. After Disney acquired Fox,, this is the second acquisition.

Suriya puts pillayar suzhi for biggies release on OTT

 

Suriya  puts  the pillayar suzhi (Ganesha Circle) for biggies of Tamil Cinema to take the OTT route by announcing that Soorarai Pottru (SP) will release on October 30 in the Amazon Prime Video platform. On August 19^th, we reported the story headlined – Telugu’s Natural Star Nani opens the OTT doors for South Filmdom. It has come true. A background information about pillayar suzhi - This came to symbolize Ganesha, the scribe who helped Vyasa write down the Mahabharata. Since then the Pillayar Suzhi is supposed to make things auspicious and bring good luck.

The theater owners as expected are angry. Tirupur Subramanian of the exhibitor’s body says that unless they have at least 2 biggies in hand to bring crowds while reopening it is difficult to bring in people after reopening. With SP gone, now Vijay’s Master remains. He says that as Suriya is free to decide on which platform to decide, exhibitors too are free to choose their films. He laughs at the stance that Suriya took the decision as a producer. He asks whether Suriya paid Rs 30 cr as renumeration to anybody as producer. All the expenses were met by the co-producer a Mumbai company. He says that Suriya says that he has taken a cut in earnings from the usual figure he gets from a film but for exhibitors it is more losses. He debunks the claim that Suriya has got permission to shoot for 2 films.

Suriya has announced a Rs 5 cr amount to be used for Covid warriors and this would blunt the opposition to the OTT move.  SP price for a post theatrical release in OTT was fixed. After the  Nani V film deal, a similar deal was inked almost a month ago with SP producers. The deal is Rs 60 cr for premiere release in all languages and after 60 days it can be released in theaters by the producers. SP’s  satellite rights was already sold to Star – Vijay for Rs 20 cr and Hindi dubbing for Rs 12 cr.  Overseas rights was committed for Rs 12 cr and this might drop drastically to Rs 3 cr. The opening response of TENET in theaters in USA and SE Asia has been too poor. According to trade the SP producers have made a Rs 25cr profit before release.

A theater owner reveals the scenario if the curtains are up before Corona goes away

My friend, an owner of a standalone theater in the suburbs of Chennai conducted a mock drill to see what problems he would face when public are allowed to come in after going through all procedures spelt out by IMCR and WHO. The following lessons that he learnt are – It takes 30 minutes for 300 persons (50% of the total capacity is only allowed)  to be screened and sanitized  to enable them to see the show. If more than 50 % of them came in just 15 minutes before the show?.  Giving out pre-ordered snacks to ticket holders in the short time before the show started and that too without a mix-up is another hassle. All this with security guys ensuring that the patrons maintained a safe distance to get the parcels.

Should the patrons come with masks or should it be given by the theater? If so who pays for it as one cannot give away some masks that are available off the handcarts. Who pays for the sanitizers? Those taking temp readings should be wearing PPE kits that have to be changed every day. More expenses.

Inside the auditorium, the ushers have to ensure that there was a seat gap between two. Doors should be kept open or shut and AC kept on? If it were kept open, then huge pedestal fans and wall mounted fans are  needed and the whirring sound cannot be silenced. The next best option is for the theater to leave the AC on for some time before the crowd came in. Once again the staff has to see that the pre-ordered snacks through apps are delivered to the patrons at the seat during interval.

Extra personnel with PPE kits and machines to spray the rest rooms and inside the auditorium after the show are needed. A continuous vigil is needed inside the theater to see that social distancing is kept. If the middle seat is removed for now and later the Govt says it is ok (as in case of airlines) it will have to be refitted and the seats are not any local make for an ordinary carpenter to do it.

The theater made money out of its own popcorn brand and beverages sold without MRP. Now the food app guys have to agree to deliver the stuff at theater rates. Next option is allow parcels from counters. The question is will public obey the idea to come early for a show, like a check in time for flights? If they come late, can they be denied entry?

Coming to business point. With 50% occupancy, a theater- distributor will need at least 50 days to make profits. By this 50 days. Online pirated movies will come and so also HD quality DVD.  The results of theater  owner talk with public is that except for a small 10% , no one will come to see a re-run or of a non star film when the curtains lift up gain as they feel that they have go through lot of inconvenience and risks ( they say seeing films in theater is a risk). Only a star studded film can bring life back to theaters is the consensus. Most of the patrons   have taken to viewing films on OTT from the comfort of their homes and though they are not pleased with the OTT releases like Ponmagal Vandhal and Penguin, other language films, especially the Malayalam and Hindi films have caught their fancy. Many of them have even been hooked to web series.

As my friend says that it is better to wait till the epidemic is over. He points out that Suriya’s SP is the only film as of now that is ready and can bring public to take a look or take a risk. But after that? Even Hollywood films are coming out only in November and many theaters in USA are still shut , even after getting a green signal, as they can’t find people to come in to see re-runs or those that were yanked off due to lockdown. They are giving the summer a miss.

P S : The pix used is only for illustrative purpose. Nazar, Giri (artist manager), director Rasi Alagappan were in Trivandrum and wanted to see Jallikattu film ( Malayalam). Anand ( Thiruda Thiruda) who shifted base to Trivandrum took them to New Theater. They were told that as only a handful had come, the show was cancelled. Anand paid for 26 seats (cutoff limit) and saw the film.