Oveli village in Nilgiri now a film location

 

Oveli village near Kudalur in Nilgiris district is the place where the whole beauty of the Western Ghats is brought together. For the first time, the life of the people of Gudalur, a rainforest that has not been seen by the camera, has been made into a film. Nilgiris

Kudalur native Zulfi has written and directed the film.

The film is produced by Anitha Sudarsanam on behalf of Magic Carpet Company.


Starring Shruti Pramod, Girish, Krishnakumar, Manju, Salman, Abhirami and others, V. A. Charlie Yin composes the music. G. Krishnakumar, Anitha Sudarsanam and Sunitha Sherley have written the songs. Young cinematographer Naveen has done the cinematography. Fight Training Harris IDK, Editing by Veera Senthil Raj, Art Director Raghava Kannan and 5.1 Sound Mixing by R. Janardhanan has done.

The film, made as a crime thriller with the smell of soil in the background of Kudalur, which is located on the border of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, has created a lot of anticipation.

Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 is no Vikram at box office

 

Thalapathy - AK fans along with Ulaganayakan narpani manram can rejoice as Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 is not going to break the records set by their idols at the box office. A report filed on Tuesay after taking the advance boking for the day- READ ON-----

 P S1 box office weekend reports show that the Monday box office advance reports are weak On day one, it collected Rs 29 crores and this came as a surprise. It fell below the First Day first show of  Ajith’s Valimai and Thalapathy’s Beast FDFS record

. This has created a big cheer to fans of the two actors. Second day Tamil Nadu collection dropped to Rs 27 crores and third Day being a Sunday, it rose to Rs 30 crores. Monday also being a holiday has reported Rs 16 crores  across the State. Exhibitors are worried that the figures may rise up to Rs 20 crores as many business establishments have  a holiday and hope that as private establishments get back to work, the slide does not happen. Kerala and AP/ TS too witnessed drastic fall.  

Tamil Nadu is the biggest market for PS 1 and second highest is Karnataka and mainly in Bangalore where collections have touched Rs 6 crores. Kerala response has been sober and so far, it has collected Rs 3 crores. In Andhra and TS , the film has dropped badly after a decent start. Bad reviews and mainly understanding the intriguing Chola politics has worked against. However, in Hyderabad, Sunday showed a good response. In Hindi, too the film has a weak response. Chennai – Madurai- Coimbatore and Salem are the areas where Ps 1 collections are strong. Neighboring Puducherry too the film is doing extraordinary at box office. So far within India, PS 1 has netted Rs 128 crores in three days.

Overseas the scenario  is different as in US markets, the film is doing extraordinary biz and all set to beat Vikram as the biggest Tamil film in terms of collections. However, reports of PS 1 heading to break RRR is not true. Rs 80 crores was collected globally as per producers' tweet on day 1, Rs 36 crores comes from India and rest from  US and France that is giving good numbers informed a trade analyst. Dhanush film Telugu dubbed Nene Vaasthunna is a washout and Tamil Naane varuven in Tamil Nadu, a token presence in the theaters.

VTK : A benchmark film for GVM – STR

 Vendhu thanindhathu kaadu (VTK) is a benchmark film for Gautam Vasudev Menon (GVM) and  STR.  The film showcases director’s smooth transition from his comfort zone of romance to the world of violence and STR from the usual not too serious  type of characters to a role that is heavy and needs a sort of focus and sort of preparation. ARR , after a long time gives you the music that you always say he does – give you slow poison. More you listen it grows on you. As I did not hear the songs before seeing the film, it took me by a surprise. Now < I am cannot work without this songs playing on my headphones. In the film Marukuma comes in bits but aptly placed. I think Mallipoo song was wasted in the film. 

A gangster flick always has this plot of a guy turning Don by eliminating the existing one and how he does it is the only difference. The same plot here and what Jeyamohan ( story writer) had about Mumbai underworld is what is complete out of synch.  Never has Mumbai had a Malayali underworld and Tamil gangsters at loggerheads as all belong to Madrasi gang. Also, a bodyguard cannot become a Don and it is the heads of the various groups that operate under the Don that crown the next King. 

Apart from this flaws , I think GVM’s handling of first half of the underworld is very realistic and devoid of an artificial. Except for the junior actors moving around as passerby and sets, the mental state of such ‘migrants’ and their dilemma is well said. In the second half, GVM is on his familiar territory – LOVE. The girl Siddhi Idnani is just the girl next door and right for a salesgirl with a dimple. Her dubbing voice sounds more mature than her. She is a perfect foil and would go a long way as an actress. 

Coming back to the plot, VTK could have worked bigger, if GVM had an antagonist that is powerful. Here the hero is caught between two gang wars and happenings around him and not pitted against a single force. 

GVM screenplay does not lose track of the main plot and smoothly takes us from guns to flowers and back. STR never at moment shows any drop of guard and is the stiff upper lipped boy of few words. His eyes at times speaks more than the dialogues. Cinematography is just about apt and nothing more than needed. STR and GVM have disproved that they can do only a VTV variant and capable to do more genres. 

 

Dhanush Thiruchitrambalam victory is like Vikram to Kamal Haasan

 

Dhanush box office hit of Thiruchitrambalam is no less significant than that of Kamal Haasan’s Vikram in terms of the revenue and also like Kamal , it was a significant come back of an actor who was written off.  Dhanush fans were angry with the trash that came out on OTT and family audience were angry that he had `divorced’ Superstar’ daughter.

Dhanush slot in the Kollywood sphere was that of a middle class boy next door who spoke the Chennai slang and was an agile street fighter. This took various avatars in different backgrounds and when it started getting into a MASS hero with no story to say, films bombed. It was around that time that Karnan happened and he was back with a double bang. But he cannot have a director like Vetrimaaran and a producer like Thanu to bring him back.

Thiruchitrambalam victory is in many ways a personal triumph for Dhanush. One, it has him in a middle class guy slot and acceptance by audience shows that the post is still remains his. Secondly, he is not doing the street rowdy character who mouths swear words and bashes hundreds of goons. This sober down role has been accepted  by a family audience and this is like having a ` committed’ audience who will see him in such genre of films. Thirdly, the victory will rest squarely on his shoulder and does not have to share it with anybody. Mithran is no Vetrimaaran.

Apart from this, is the realisation of Dhanush about his market range. If sources close to Sun Pictures are to be believed, Dhanush asked for and  was paid only  Rs 15 crore. It was his way of making his film , a profitable outing for the producer. Unlike the other STAR’s who refuse to climb down and accept reality, Dhanush took several steps down and it paid off. Those in the trade say that even if Thiruchitrambalam was average box office, producer would have won.

Trade analysts say film entered Rs 100 cr club and as later releases like Liger being a bomb, Thiruchitrambalam is getting 70 % occupancy even now.  Rs 50 crores accounts from Tamil Nadu alone of the  Rs 60 crores total from India.  Overseas it has touched Rs 23 crores. Now for fans- “#Thiruchitrambalam with ₹70.75 cr BEATS #Beast lifetime ₹65.45 cr to become the 7th HIGHEST grosser of the year in TN Box Office.”- analyst Manobala latest.

For Hollywood movie ` Gray Man’, Dhanush charged only Rs 5 crores and this has made him a first choice for producers in USA and UK who are looking for an Indian actor with a popular base at home.