PALAKKAD/CHENNAI : Tamil films have become such a rage in neighbouring Kerala that when a Kollywood flick releases, even Malayalam releases are pushed to later dates. Vijay’s Thalaivaa grossed `12 crore - a little less than the film’s taking in Chennai. As the movie released two weeks late in Tamil Nadu, plenty of fans actually trekked into Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to catch the film early.
One of the major reasons why Tamil films do well in Kerala is because the heroes often do publicity runs to meet fans in theatres.
Vijay is the most proactive on this front as he always does a publicity run in Kerala on the day after the release - a trend that has been picked by Vishal, who promoted Poojai recently. “Vijay goes a step further and connects with the fans here. In border towns where the craze is highest, fan clubs do crazy things. When Unnikrishnan, a fan, fell down while performing milk ‘abhishekham’ in Palakkad last week, Vijay went and met his family and offered them some financial aid. Not many actors are as proactive,” said a source with the South Indian Film Chamber. So, are Tamil releases drowning films by younger Malayalam stars like Dulqer Salman and Fahad Fasil? K Nandakumar, president of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce disagrees. “Many films like Bangalore Days, How Old Are You, Vellimoonga, Vikramaditya and Ithihasa have done well,” he said.