Abouncer has been bowled at Kollywood and they're still trying to figure out how to play it! The ICC World Cup 2011 matches, which started yesterday, have the producers pressing the panic button. The first casualty seems to be Jiiva's Singam Puli. The film, which was initially scheduled to release next Friday, has been postponed by a week. The reason given is that the next weekend will see two big matches; India takes on England and Pakistan takes on Sri Lanka. Despite all this, there are nearly 60 small and medium films ready for release in the next two months.
Says a leading Coimbatore-based distributor, "We have to live with the fact that the World Cup is here and IPL is to follow soon. Now, individual producers and distributors are looking at the schedule and then deciding the release date of their films. Today, any film collects the best in its opening weekend. So, it is but natural that we have to pick a weekend when India and other favourites are not playing big matches."
Says Meenakshi Sundaram, manager of a leading multiplex in the city, "There will be a drop in collections, especially if India and other sub continental teams are playing in crucial matches during the weekend. And if it is a D/N match, the drop will be more, as matinee, evening and night shows will be badly affected." The trade points out that the bookings for Gautham Menon's Nadunisi Naaygal, which took a fantastic day one opening on Friday in Chennai, have come down in the weekend due to the World Cup matches.
However, leading exhibitor and distributor Abirami Ramanathan feels that there's nothing to fear. "It will be business as usual," he states, "A 50-over match just does not have as much excitement as a T-20 match. I feel films will have to co-exist with other forms of entertainment."
Some films, however, seem to be ready to take on the cricket! The buzz is that producer Kalpathi Aghoram is planning to release his Prabhu Deva-directed Jayam Ravi-Hansika starrer Engeyum Kaadhal on March 25/31. Says a leading distributor and cricket fan, "The cricket fever will last as long as India is in the running to make it to the finals." Meanwhile, films like Vaanam, Ko, Maapillai, Avan Ivan, Mankatha and a few others have already started booking theatres for April.
