Kollywood first quarter report of 2014

The first quarter of the year 2014 began with six releases on January 3rd and unfortunately none of the films managed to even kindle an interest among the audiences. All of them moved out of the theatres without a trace and made way for two biggies – Ajith’s Veeram and Vijay’s Jilla – the next week, January 10th, 2014. Both these films took a phenomenal opening and the box office figures that were released drove home the point that it raked in profits for the producers. But, the Chairperson of the Producers’ Council, Keyar, revealed that the first success of the year that earned profits for its producers was Goli Soda and not Veeram or Jilla. Vijay Milton’s directorial venture with the ‘Pasanga’ boys is officially the first box office success.

During this past three months, several films, 53 to be precise, has hit the silver screens and many of them could not even continue its run at the theatres for a week. Though this sad state-of-affairs continues, there is no dearth for movie releases and the figure 53 proves this point beyond doubt.

Some of the biggies and highly anticipated films that failed miserably at the box office are Rummy, Malini 22 Palayamkottai, which is a remake of a Malayalam blockbuster, Bramman and Aaha Kalyanam which is a remake of a Hindi smash hit. Films like Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum, Idhu Kathirvelan Kaadhal, Vallinam and Nimirnthu Nil are reported not to have yielded good results where the cash counters are concerned despite positive word of mouth and good reviews.

On the other hand, Thegidi and Cuckoo, directed by newbies, have managed to garner the attention of the movie buffs with some out-of-the-box thinking. Inam and Nedunchalai released on March 28th to good reviews, but Inam was pulled out of theatres as few groups protested against its makers. Trade sources are of the opinion that at this rate, 2014 will have to see over 200 releases but the big question is: are the audiences ready? Well, what the audiences really want is not entertainment but also good and meaningful cinema that is worth the money they spend.

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