PALAKKAD/CHENNAI : In the days leading to the release of Vijay’s film ‘Kaththi’, there was barely any publicity in Tamil Nadu - given the protests and uncertainty over whether the film would release. But, just across state lines to the West, it was a completely different ball game: posters lined the streets, flex banners marked theatres and a whole train was plastered with the movie’s posters and ran through the length of Kerala before reaching Mangalore.
Over the last few years, the reception for Tamil movies for A-list heroes like Rajinikanth, Vijay, Ajith and Kamal Haasan has been so enormous that distributors have been known to even push Malayalam films from clashing with these at the box office.
The aggressive marketing by Tamil films coupled with the changing audience attitude have resulted in many of the releases running to packed houses in Kerala. In many interior towns of the state, especially in border areas, publicity of top Tamil stars is often bigger and better than that of their Malayalam counterparts Mohanlal and Mammootty. From special fan shows to ‘paal’ abhishekhams by fan clubs, there is little that separates it from a release in any city in Tamil Nadu.
K Shibu, the proprietor of Thameens Films, explained that this added demand has driven the cost of distribution rights up by several notches. “We released ‘Kaththi’ in 192 screens and have managed excellent collections. Publicity is vital. We spent close to `45-`50 lakh on it alone,” he said.
P Sreekumar, proprietor of Remya movies, who released several Tamil films in the state, said the distribution rights of a film like ‘Kaththi’ would have cost `3.75 crore. And it would appear to have paid off. According to trade sources, of the `100 crore that ‘Kaththi’ has collected in the 12 days since its release, close to `10.25 crore is from Kerala.
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 Dulquer Salman and Fahadh Faasil? K Nandakumar, president of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, disagreed. “It will not be right to say Malayalam films are getting hit because of the ad blitzkrieg of Hindi and Tamil films. Many Malayalam films like “Bangalore Days”, “How Old Are You”, “Vellimoonga”, “Vikramadityan” and “Ithihasa” have done well in Kerala,” he said.
Director and producer Lal Jose feels that Malayalam films now survive because of satellite rights alone. “Media failed to promote films with new faces and innovative story lines like ‘Ithihasa’. On the other hand, we find films like ‘Happy New Year’ of Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay’s ‘Kaththi’ getting more space,” he said.