Amidst all the instances of movies with no big stars doing well in theatres, there is an entirely different angle, too. Guppy, a movie starring Tovino Thomas, and directed by John Paul, had a dismal run, but it received an overwhelmingly positive response when the DVD hit the stands.
The movie, which fizzled out in theatres (one month in Kochi and barely a week in other parts of the state) bounced to the limelight when people, who watched it in DVD, flooded the social media with applause.
But, why did it fail at the theatres despite having everything, including positive reviews? Director John Paul says he is clueless. “I did everything I could do. I made a good movie which could entertain people. Guppy had only received a lot of positive feedback. I don’t have an answer as to why it failed,” says the director.
Tovino thinks that a certain kind of prejudice worked against it. “Post-release, I spoke to several people about it. Many said they thought it was a movie for children. Or, it may have to do with me not being a poster face. But, at the end of the day, there is no definite answer,” says Tovino.
Nevertheless, both says Guppy was well marketed. “Though I would agree that there wasn’t much time for marketing activities, Guppy had a presence in the social media. But, invariably, the movie should be good which Guppy was. The prime role of marketing is to ensure that people know about the movie,” says John Paul.
But, both agree that there wasn’t much support from the industry. “We didn’t get the kind of support many other movies have enjoyed. It was somewhat saddening that many artists who watched the movie opted not to be vocal about it,” says Tovino.
Though the team pondered over re-releasing the movie, they later decided against it.