Udhayanidhi Stalin to release Radhe Shyam and clash with Valimai

Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant has acquired the Tamil Nadu distribution of Tamil dubbed version of Radhe Shyam starring Prabhas. It is slated for an All India release on January 14th. Hindi release is with T Series. On January 13th, Ajith starrer Valimai is releasing all over India , according to producer Boney Kapoor's tweet. Andhra/ TS and Hindi releases were added after RRR backed out from January 7th date. Only Nagarjuna film is set for Pongal release and Radhe Shyam was seen as tottering since the trade felt that it too might pull out last minute if Andhra brings in a night curfew and 50 % occupancy. Studio Green was first on board to distribute Radhe Shyam in TN but backed out after Chennai - Coimbatore, two major box office areas see Covid spike.

Red Giant has told theaters that they expect night curfews and 50 % occupancy restriction in coming week after Jan 10th. However they would go ahead with the screening as it was okay with Radhe Shyam producers and distributor RD Illuminations. Radhe Shyam has taken the stance that even if 50 % occupancy comes in Andhra, they are okay. Telangana has made it clear that there would be no restrictions for Sankranti festival. In Hindi belt too, Producers have asked T series to go ahead and release in compliance with Covid restrictions in North India regions. As long as movie halls are open, release Radhe Shyam in places where possible is the stance. OTT platforms on other hand are offering huge amounts for a premiere or for even an advanced 2 week window from release date.

Valimai TN distribution has been acquired by Madurai Anbu exhibitor- distributor and said to be close to political powers and he too is not keen to skip the release date and go with Covid restrictions as he is confident of making a kill at box office. Boney Kapoor and Zee who did no pre- publicity for Hindi release has sprung a surprise by releasing posters for Telugu and Hindi and a trailor for both language..  Vijay Deverakonda and Naga Chaitanya launched the Telugu poster of Valimai, Hindi posters are released by film's producers children, Arjun and Janhvi Kapoor. All four actors shared the posters on their respective social media handles. The telugu poster features Kartikeya Gummakonda, who is playing villain and marking debut in Tamil along with Ajith.   The Hindi trailor is brief one and features only Ajith's scenes while other two languages have more length and Huma Qureshi - Kartikeya are seen.

Is Udhyanidhi Stalin The BOSS of Kollywood ?

 A voice clip  between a theater owner and distributor tells about how the former is being compelled to give more screens to Rajinikanth's Annatthe . The clip gains traction as the distributor of Annatthe is Udhayanidhi Stalin and producers are Sun Pictures. Next we have maverick actor- producer TR telling the media that an unrecognized Film Federation of Tamil film bodies is using the name of Red Giant to pressurize his son STR to pay up for the loss incurred by a producer. TR adds that he and wife would sit in dhqrna before the house of  Udhayanidhi if justice is not given. These are two happenings that are on record. A third is that Bollywood Producer Boney Kapoor pays a visit to Udhaynidhi and releases the photo to the media. This could  should not seen in isolation as almost all active film folks in Kodambakkam turned up to greet TN CM Stalin is the defense.

Lets move to events that have no evidence to show that Udhaynidhi Stalin was involved in them . Lyca International Subashkaran - director Shankar- are locked in a dispute over budget of Indian 2 and movie is stalled. Lyca funded film with Vadivelu as hero is stalled due to producer Shankar and his sishya who is the director had a run in with the hero ( Vadivelu).  Vadivelu meets Stalin and says good times are back. Reports say that Lyca and Shankar smoked the peace pipe. Vadivelu project is scrapped.

Aranmanai 3 directed by Sundar C and with a not so great star cast - a failing franchise gets pretty good number of screens even when Sivakarthikeyan film Doctor released a week before runs to packed houses. In fact it got more screens than what film Enemy got for upcoming Diwali . Reason  -the film was distributed by Red Giant Movies. This Giant company is owned by Udhayanidhi.

Reports say that Udhayanidhi called the Enemy distributor ( don't know whether it is Anbu of Madurai or Kamadhenu Films) and told him that there is no pressure on his part and in fact he asked theaters to allot screens to his rival. Maanadu starring STR was to release on Diwali but this unrecognised Federation stopped the release as it does not want competition to Rajinikanth . What STR competition to Rajinikanth ? No to Red Giant the distributor of Anaatthe. STR father- mother indulges in theatrics. Mother talks about how her hubby then campaigned for DMK non stop and started spitting blood as his vocal chords were  bleeding and now some lackeys of Udhaynidhi are working against her son. After this we see Enemy film producer who said that he cannot fight Red Giant for pooja holidays cry about how he did not get even 250 screens for Diwali against a Rajinikanth - Udhayanidhi combo.

In defense of Udhaynidhi,  his circle says releasing of Aranmanai 3 with Doctor was a masterstroke. Those who did not get tickets for Doctor bought Aranmanai tickets. So theater owners hit a double whammy. Now again for Diwali, this will happen. Udhay by asking theaters to give 250 screeens is ensuring that Enemy gets the overflow. Once again Theater owners are going to be happy.

The Lyca - Shankar- Vadivelu issue is just putting dots together to make a line. Vadivelu  meets Stalin . Stalin attends Shankar daughter's wedding when other VIP's stayed away citing Covid restrictions. Assemble this and you get a story of Lyca- Shankar- Vadivelu case being solved. Red Card withdrawn by Tamil Film Producers on Vadivelu as the President is Mirali, a DMK man, is humbug. Council has not heard of any Red Card. A production company that has a title Naai Shekar , name made popular by Vadivelu says not willing to part with it for a Lyca Production who claims that as Vadivelu is the hero they are morally the owners and legal rights have no room. Council agrees. Lyca names the film Naai Shekar Returns.

Actor- politician - ex MP Sarath Kumar when quitting DMK said that first family of DMK was running Kollywood through their siblings production companies - distribution and TV network. Jayalalithaa made a caustic remark that the CM had lot of time to see special shows arranged for him. Not one day  passed without a photo of then CM Karunaindhi being clicked at a preview theater.

On January first week, Ajith starrer Valiamai is releasing and so far no biggie has planned to release at same time. The producer is Boney Kapoor. So he met Udhaynidhi and that was to exchange pleasantries as the young actor- politician was acting and producing  Hindi film Articke 15 Tamil remake . Hindi producer is Boney and he unlike other's wh

o just pocket the money pays a visit to the guy who paid for it and makes it a public. A rare gesture in these days.