Kaduva Malayalam box office reports ; Warning to formula directors - actors

 As Kaduva Malayalam film producer- hero Prithviraj- director Shsaji Kailas have on the fourth day itself released a success teaser , box office figures of Kerala theater collections show that it was nothing much to celebrate. On the fourth day the Kerala box office gross stood at Rs 11.45 crores ( film was released on July 6th).  On day one, the collection was Rs 2 crore . Same day producer and film team started the `success' yatra. The budget is Rs 20 crores and to collect the investment, film has to collect Rs 40 crores at theaters. As Kaduva is no Vikram, from Monday the box office will not take a dramatic rise outside Kerala.

Those who point out that Kaduva opening collections was equal to 8 days of Prithviraj's Jana Gana Mana should also tell that the film was not made at Rs 20 crore and the slow pickup for the content value and that it stayed away from a formulaic stereotyped Prithiviraj film had worked. 

Kerala Film Producers Association released a list of 6 films that it termed were hits- Bhisma Parvam - CBI 5 ( Mammooty) , Jana Gana Mana ( Prithviraj) - Hridyam ( Pranava Mohanlal), Jo and Jo and Super Sharanya ( no stars). Though makers of Arrattu and Lalettan fans claimed it was a box office hit and celebrated it, the truth was else where. Kaduva is yet another Arrattu with a real life story tag to it. Prithviraj for his BO standing needs to make Kaduva , a hit. He has taken the job of a Pan Indian film director from KGF producers and he cannot afford to be an average at BO in Kerala.

Two of Mammooty films that ran had the Megastar playing a little more than a middle aged man. Budgets were reasonable and that is why CBI 5 was a profit for the producer. Hridyam victory was the low budget- new music director and a no over hype . Malayalam films released on OTT directly was 35. Out of these, majority of the films were on local OTT platforms. Big guns like Amazon- Netflix - Hotstar backed big names and even funded them.

Now as Producers -  Theater owners are saying that no film without stars is getting an opening and whether this means that audience will come only if there is a STAR, they fail to see that most of the films had no content that made anybody want to come to the theater. It did not offer any entertainment and that is why relatively upcoming actors films like Jo JO and Super Sharanya worked.

 OTT players based out of Kerala in probability will have a field day as there is a spate of small budget films releasing and vanishing at a rapid pace and a bigger numbers that are ready but cannot find a distributor or have the money to take it themselves to movie halls. All these might land up at local OTT players door step. It might help the OTT players in the short run and no gain for producers. After a spate of content devoid films flood these OTT, the subscriber base will shrink. Most of the small players are using the pay per view model.

The coming six months are exciting and a real box office explosion is expected. After a long gap comes Nivin Pauly with Asif Ali in Mahaveerayar , fantasy film on July 21, next day comes Faahad Fazil, seen only on OTT platforms is back to big screen with Malayankunju and has A R Rahman music. On July 28th, Vikrant Rona the Kannada film of Sudeep is releasing. After KGF 2 success, Kannada films have got acceptability in Kerala. Apart from this the film is distributed by Dulquar Salman's company.

Though not officially confirmed, Paapan with Suresh Gopi and Joshy as director is likely to come on July 29th. In August 5th, Dulquar's Telegu film SitaRaman is to release. His previous Tamil outing Hey Sinamika in Kerala did not create any ripples but this time, actor is expected to promote Sita Raman in a big way. On Agust 11, Kerala exhbitors are gungho about Aamir Khan Lal Singh Chaddha as Malayali audience have always given Aamir the thumbs up. On same day, Vikram's Cobra is releasing and so is Tovino's Thallumala. Vikram who once had a very good market in Kerala after Kamal Haasan from Kollywod, it is now wasted as many of his films flopped and some were OTT releases. Tovino after Minnal Murali hit is now in the red as all later releases were washouts.

Kamal Haasan cameo in Ponniyin Selvan 1 : Is Mani Ratnam a Sanghi ? - Some toxic comments post teaser release

 

Kamal Haasan comes on screen and speaks about the masterpiece novel Ponniyin Selvan's celluloid adaptation by Mani Ratnam at the start of the film and gives an insight about the sequel at the end, said a source in Rajkamal Films International. Some of the those  with ` what if it is Mani Ratnam film ?  ' attitude and those with some genuine doubts ( ones who have read the book) to an appeal from audio book firm asking guys to buy their stuff and educate about PS1 can be found on Twitter. On day one PS1 teaser touched 5 million and 24hrs later it touched 12 million. A latest tweet says it is to touch 25 million.

Lets start with Karthi speech at teaser release ; During our school we usually sleep when it comes to history. We wont have much interest in history. We have been only taught about the Colonization of our land by foreigners. At this point of time, there is no time for anyone to read a book. But Mani sir has a made a film from a Five part book. Without reading history, we cannot create history. I suggest the younger generation to read history.

A twiiter post viewpoint on this ; Listening to the speech of few in the launch, the real concern is portraying the film as History, when the Novel itself is not one. It is a great historical fiction with little historicity. I presume many will start quoting the movie as source of history soon #EKSI

Next was the way the film was promoted in `vadakuindia ( North Indian media): Change of names from Aditi to Aditya and Arulmzhi to Arun were pointed out. " apo ivanungale vaiche padam otiko da mani ratnam. already arulmozhi ku arunmozhi. teaser hastag la ponniyin ku panniyin nu pottu release panirukaan andha vadakku media. idhula naalu actors tweet pota odane massive response ahm. ponniyin selvan name ah kedukama irundha serri"

Another guy had this question to Mani Sir - The Chola flag is literally a tiger on a yellow-ish orange flag. What’s this red flag in Ponniyin Selvan teaser?

And on the tilak part, don’t Cholas apply Thiruneer on which the Thilak comes? Pardon for the very crude way of question . can you enlighten us

Another review by a twitterati : Ponniyin Selvan teaser looks rather underwhelming. The graphics look cheap & discernable, Rahman's music is nonexistent & war scenes seem templated. Mani Ratnam is a master at subtlety, used to underplaying drama. This needed the grandeur & vision of someone like Rajamouli.

The BJP touch to PS1 has been going on for some time. One popular tweet was that PS1 teaser would be released in Big Temple Thanjavur and Rajinikanth would sneak in through the back gate as he wanted to avoid nosy questions from media. Yet another popular one was that all the actors are fair skinned and not dark skinned like the Cholas as it was made to suit North Indians (BJP) and the thilak was a V sign applied by devotees of Lord Vishnu while in reality, Cholas put three horizontal lines of ash as they are devotees of Lord Shiva.

Some posted pictures they said were colour corrected by them on their mobile. Cinematographer is Ravi Varman. However this appeal needs action;

Here is a humble request - Please show us some love by sharing links of our Kadhai Osai's Ponniyin Selvan Audiobook with everyone keen on knowing the story! I have a feeling people would be curious after the teaser release!

After hearing this audio book can we expect more ` learned' comments ?

Kamal Haasan Aalavandhan slicker version to hit theaters

 Kamal Haasan starrer Alavandhan released in 2001 is getting edited and trimmed for a theater release revealed a source close to Producer Kalaipuli Thanu.  It is the first film in Tamil to fuse the magical realism concept that is used in literature. Recently released Kuthirvaal was one that used the magical realism approach to narration. The film directed by Suresh Krissna ,won the national award for best special effects. It has Manisha Koirala and Raveena Tandon in the female lead.

The film released in Tamil and Hindi was a colossal disaster for Producer Thanu and also for Kamal Haasan. Thanu who gave string of hits  suffered a huge setback and took a long time to overcome it. The film started off with Simran and Rani Mukherji who was to play the female leads dropping out due to date hassles. After that Harris Jayraj who was to score the music left and Shankar Ehsan- Loy came on board. The action choreographer was Hollywood's Grant Page of It's a Mad Mad World who shot the climax in Kashmir. In Delhi, 39 cars- 3 cameras including an Airramp machine used by stuntmen abroad for jump scenes was used and was filmed for 25 days. To get the authentic look of guns and Armory, Major Ravi retired from Army and director- actor was a consultant.

The film was completed at a cost of Rs 21 crores and Thanu spend a bomb in promoting it. The film collected close to Rs 2 crores in Tamil and a washout in Hindi. Film was badly criticized and one critic wrote that it looked like the director and actor were on drugs while making the film. Years later in 2016, the film won acclaim in International film festival. Quentin Tarantino said that animated action in Alavandhan made him use the technique in Kill Bill films. At that time the producer had released an advertisement in Tamil Daily announcing the release of digitally remastered print. Rediff .com which slammed the film at time of release put in the Top 10 films of Kamal Hassan.

The film story is written by Kamal and was published in a Tamil periodical, K Balchander rejected the film as it was way ahead of it's times. Kamal appeared in the buff for a scene and it was censored. Instaed of using a standard blue matte or masking , the scenes were never static and shot with a motion control rig to mount the camera and shoot the action shots of the dual charachters, The motion rig was imported from Australia, a first in Indian cinematography. In scenes where both characters came together, after shooting one character , the other was shot weeks later. The output was brilliant . Animation used till then for cartoons was given a new use in action. A psychedelia acid trip lasting 20 minutes was a first time experience for the viewer.

Kamal plays a dual role of twins - one an Army commando and another a mentally deranged man who is spending time in a mental asylum for killing his step mother. The mad man role was bald pated and Kamal gained ten kgs for it. For the commando role he took a training at National Defense Academy to get the feel of the character. Shringar Films which bought the Hindi release rights faced some issues during release.

With Vikram's total gross collection touching Rs 500 crores and Rs 85 crores as TamilNadu share, Alavandhan might just about bring in the moolah for Thanu who lost in 2001. Kamal will move to work on Indian 2 from August 22nd , as per sources close to him. Entire July, Shankar is busy shooting an an elaborate action scene with 1500 stunt men and multiple cameras for Ram Charan film.

Rajinikanth behind Illaiyaraaja MP nomination

 Illaiyaraaja getting nominated to Rajya Sabha is actually the efforts of Rajinikanth bearing fruit, revealed a source. The saffron party that had conferred the Dada Shaeb Phalke Award on Rajinikanth was keen that the actor be brought to Rajya Sabha and he was offered the nomination route. Nobody can fault the Government for nominating an actor who has and is still ruling the Tamil Nadu box office for over two decades. Secondly, the nomination route does not make him a Sanghi as he does not have to get BJP MLA votes.

The source said that Rajinikanth realised that it would put the saffron paint on him and this he did not want. Reason was that his fan following might dwindle since BJP has a very low rating in the public. With Vijay- Ajith already edging into his space in box office, it was not wise to play with his fans feelings. The BJP plan was that by getting Rajinikanth to Upper House, it could tell indirectly that the actor was their man. Add to this the utterance by the actor about spiritual politics. It is also known in political circles that Rajinikanth keeps in close touch with auditor Gurumurthy who now runs Late Cho's Thughlak.

Source said that it took lot of convincing for Rajinikanth to make Illaiyaraaja take up the offer. The music composer was mentally in favour of Modi and his Government but the hitch was that he was not sure of how the public reaction would be. In social media and in the diaspora, he is a revered man. In all ways he is treated as Isaiganani ( a title officially conferred by Karunanidhi Government). Now would anti- sangh groups attack him. A foreword he wrote for a book ( reported by us click link :https://southfilmy.blogspot.com/2022/04/illaiyaraaja-pro-modi-tweet-to-escape.html) created a controversy and many speculations. Later it was reported that Illayaraaja was in list of people to be nominated to Rajya Sabha.

Two times, Rajinikanth called on the music composer at his studio and each time, it was reported that the actor and maestro were coming together . Both worked in Veera ( 1994). It is said that Rajinikanth will play an extended cameo in R Balki's film with Illaiyaraaja music.

The anti- BJP camp propaganda to make the Upper House nomination as a political move to woo backward classes n Tamil Nadu is the most painful part for any music lover. A music composer with such a distinguished track record has overnight turned into just a SANGHI and nothing more. In fact, radical Dalit groups say that Raaja has scored devotional songs of those Goddess worshipped by Upper caste and done very little for the Dalits cause. In fact, Dalit film makers have not used him in their films as he is unaffordable.

Raaja's son Yuvan converted to Islam and married a Muslim girl. He calls him a True Black Dravidian and posted a photo of him n a black T shirt and lungi in the backdrop of Keelkattalai ( hub of Muslims).

Kamal Haasan office demolition by Metro Rail : No politics behind it

 Kamal Haasan office RKFI ( Rajkamal Films International) in Alwarpet area of Chennai will face the bulldozer of Metro Rail was the news. Is BJP doing what UPA ( DMK) did to Vijaykant mandapam ( wedding hall) by razing it  as part of National Highway project being now done to Kamal in the name of Metro Rail Chennai expansion in Chennai ?. CMRL the agency that is building the Metro rail in Chennai says that one year ago when the proposed plan and route was drawn up, they has spoken to Kamal's office. They wanted only 10 feet of land from the vacant portion in the office for completion of the underground station of Metro. There was no hitch and since the line connecting Power house in Kodambakkam to Lighthouse in Marina Beach comes after completion of the Poonamalee - Power House stretch, it did not need any immediate hurry. A written communication was given to RKFI , for record sake.

The portion of land that Metro wants is one near the bust of K Balchander in the ground behind. Market price will be given said CMRL source. Probably Kamal might shift KB bust to a better place for doing annual ceremonies. 

In case of Vijaykant's marriage hall, the National Highway route plan was through middle of the building. Actor wanted it to have a deviation and spare the structure. DMK was holding the Highways ministry portfolio in UPA. A visit to Karunanidhi by the actor too did not get the desired result. All that was needed was a road that goes through the building and actor asked it to be given a deviation. As Assembly elections were coming, DMK kept mum. After that, it decided to go ahead. Vijaykant asked time for a couple of months as he had taken bookings but it was not given. Though major works of highway's grade separator ( flyover) was pending, the hall demolition took place. Vijaykant however constructed a party office in remaining land and inaugurated it before the hall ( which housed party office) was razed.

Mohanlal bigger draw than Salman- Kamal - Nag : Disney Chief

 Walt Disney India President K Madhavan said -" In the history of Bigg Boss conducted in many languages, Malayalam is only one with double digit TRP and that is because of Mohanlal ". He went to elaborate on how the actor handles the contestants etc as the host. Now BB Hindi is in 15 th year, and Tamil - Telegu in its Season 5 and is hosted by Salman Khan- Kamal Hassan- Nagarjuna in that order. So it means that these three actors as compared to Mohanlal as TV host , is very poor and not able to muster the numbers. Apart from this Asianet is not ranked in the top 10 GEC of BARC and despite that the BB show getting TRP to beat Hindi coming on Colors Tv and Salman has been host for past 12 seasons, Telegu BB comes on Star  Maa ( rated top 5 among South channels by BARC) with three out of five hosted by Nagarjuna and Tamil BB in Star Vijay which is second after Sun and in BARC list has Kamal Haasan doing the honours with Simbu stepping in a few episodes of Ultimate.

Now lets get into details spelled out by Mohanlal about the voting figures given to him by the producers.- Banijay and platform Disney Hotstar on OTT - Asianet satellite. On finale voting touched 21 crores ( for all contestants). 39% of the votes was got by winner Dilsha Prasannan. 

BB Malayalam was streamed live this time on Disney Hotstar and a 90 minute capsule on Asianet. Madhavan is also President of Star India which also owns Asianet. An ad agency friend gave us a sample of a week TRP of Asianet with BB 4 show included. It is the figures before Dr Robin got evicted .We reproduce it:

As in earlier seasons, double digit figures touched only on weekend when Mohanlal came on screen. This double digit figure was below the TRP of other soap serials on Asianet. This was the case with all languages .BB never maintained double digit through out the week. Yet another change in sponsorship is that Rs 50 lakh cheque was given by channel and not keys to a flat by Confident Group. as the tag line sangathi colour aakkum ( things will be colourful), Hopefully not red. Dilsha Prasannan who won the just concluded BB Malayalam 4 is first woman winner of the show,

TRP Ratings of Bigg Boss Malayalam

Day	Week 27	Week 26
Saturday	10.32	N/A
Sunday	9.20	10.33
Monday	8.13	9.50
Tuesday	8.95	9.35
Wednesday	8.12	7.05
Thursday	8.92	8.01
Friday	10.61	8.30
Average	8.76	9.18

Rocketry movie: Kerala audience reject biopic on Nambi Narayanan

 Rocketry ; Nambi effect directed by actor R Madhavan who also plays the central role, as per box office figures on Day 3 shows that the Kerala movie goers for whom Nambi Narayanan and his struggles is not unknown , has  totally cold shouldered a biopic on him. Two days collections are in the range of Rs 8 lakhs total. Though Andhra too has dismal figures, the lack of interest in general public to see this film dubbed in Malayalam is something that is worrying. Nambi's real life story is more known in Kerala than in any other part of India. In fact, Nambi was a BJP campaign material to show how a man who put Indian space mission on the World map was wronged by a system ( Congress) and jailed . It was the Modi sarkar that gave him the Padma Bhushan and a compensation amount more than what the Apex court had told to give.

As a film critic, I found the first part about 1 hour and 40 minutes too boring to sit through. To establish the character of Nambi, too much of technicalities went in like debate between Kalam ( Abdul) and Nambi about liquid and cryogenic etc with Vikram Sarabhai as a spectator. There were also some hilarious dialogues like the Russian scientist team member ( woman) saying looks like he ( Nambi) knows the colour of our  undergarment ( jatti in Tamil). Also the buildup reached a zenith with Nambi saying to his team members that he would go ahead even without any of their help.

The movie got into flow after the persecution of Nambi started and from there till the end, it was hell of a emotional ride with Nambi and Maddy who keeps you engrossed. Special mention of Simran - she just blows you with her act of a deranged wife. I felt if the first part was drastically trimmed and second half came in the first part, film would have done wonders. The film's trailor gives the audience that it of a saga of a wronged man who got justice and to reach that it takes cool one hour and forty minutes !!!

Now critics have given a good rating and that should not have stopped Malayalee audience to see biopic of Nambi who is familiar to them. Madhavan is no stranger to them and add to it Surya in a cameo. You cannot put it on the actor's box office pull as in Kerala, it works for an opening only. In Hindi, Day 2 and 3, the figures are rising from a dismal 10% occupancy and it is only on critics rating and mouth publicity. Modi does come in the portion of Nambi being conferred the national honors.

In Tamil, Madhavan is Maddy and though he has not been seen on big screen for a long time for Tamil audience, he still has a pull with the multiplex crowd ( especially in Chennai). Figures are impressive as it around Rs 1.5 crore for two day. Film is said to have cost Rs 50 crores and release got stuck as two waves of Covid played havoc. JAI HIND