Diwali Dampener?

With only a handful of Tamil movies releasing this weekend, this Deepavali could turn out to be one of the dullest year for movie fans. You do have Ajith’s Aegan, but there is hardly any competition to the Thala movie. Hari’s Seval is mostly targetted at B & C centres and can only catch on through word of mouth if the reviews are good.

ToI has rightly pointed out that box office fight has actually spilled over to the TV space with Sun TV and Kalaignar TV upping the ante by offering new movies.

Diwali has become a metaphor for big movies. The hype and hoopla surrounding it has to be seen to be believed. Whether it is the star cast, music or just the filmmakers, there is a tremendous buzz about Diwali releases. The fans and trade, to a certain extent, believe that a release during the festival of lights will determine the star power of a hero when he is pitted against other stars.

However, sadly this year, Gautham Menon’s magnum opus with Surya — Vaaranam Aayiram, Madhavan’s comedy Guru En Aalu, Prakash Raj’s Abhiyum Naanum and Silambarasan’s Silambattam have been postponed at the last minute due to various reasons.

To a certain extent, Diwali has lost its lustre due to the invasion of satellite channels. This Diwali, Tamil television channels are beaming super hit films. The market leader, Sun TV, is premiering Rajinikanth’s all time big 2005 blockbuster Chandramukhi while arch-rival Kalaignar TV is going to telecast Ajith’s all time big super hit Billa, released last December!

The trade is worried as they feel the real Diwali battle is on television and not in theatres. Rains all over Tamil Nadu and particularly in Chennai and surrounding areas ahead of the festival are also a worrying factor.

I was under the impression that cable channels can’t telecast movies released within the last 2 years. Maybe the rule might have undergone a change after the entry of Kalaignar TV. 

Vaaranam Aayiram holds lot of promise and its music has already made a mark. The movie also made news in the last couple of days after it was announced that MK Azhagiri’s son Durai Dayanidhi has purchased the distribution rights for the movie. This follows the entry of MK Stalin’s son Udayanidhi into film production. Durai Dayanidhi’s film company is called 'Cloud Nine' while Udayanidhi’s production company goes by the name of 'Red Giant Movies'. It looks like their affinity to Tamil is only used to garner votes but not displayed in their own business initiatives.