Latest News on Tamil Cinema

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Arya / Anushka / Tamanna / Karunas / Leoni - kalai mAmaNees

[podaskie]

Family cartel seems to rule Kollywood

Film and politics are the Siamese twins of Tamil Nadu! And it is no exaggeration. For, the political history of this Dravidian land has been a witness to this strange phenomenon.

Nobody would have ever thought, though, an extended family could have a monopolistic sway over the entire celluloid industry. It is difficult for people outside the state to even imagine the vicelike grip this family has over the tinsel world. From production to distribution and from marketing to managing theatres, the young scions of the Karunanidhi clan have come to dictate every aspect of film making. So much so that even major production houses have almost stopped making movies.

No wonder, this has left everyone in Kollywood fuming but not even a few dare speak out. Ever since the Maran brothers and the grandsons of the DMK patriarch entered the scene in a big way, the rules of the game have been altered, threatening many a producer. No one is in doubt that the reign of these wonder kids is not possible without political clout and state patronage.
Hence, all that they could do is to be passive spectators of this spectacle. Well, it was Kalanithi Maran's 'Sun Pictures' which bankrolled the Rajnikant starrer Enthiran, reportedly the country's costliest movie till date.

But the way the film was distributed had come in for much criticism. From arm- twisting other producers to not release their films to hiring almost all the good cinema halls and deploying the state police in large numbers for anti- piracy searches, it had all the makings of a state- sponsored blockbuster.

Kalanithi Maran has only a few years of engagement in film making! Others from the clan who have stepped into the arena as producers are Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Deputy Chief Minister and the DMK's heir apparent M K Stalin and Durai Dayanidhi, son of Union Minister M K Alagiri.

Not to be left behind, another son of the patriarch, M K Thamizharasu is promoting his son as a hero. From superstar Rajnikant to the versatile Kamal Hassan, every selling hero is said to be on their payroll. And, it goes without saying that any big budget movie cannot but come out under the banner of any one of the family- owned production houses - 'Sun Pictures' of Kalanithi Maran, 'Red Giant Movies' of Udayanidhi and 'Cloud Nine Movies' of Durai Dayanidhi. Moreover, the once powerful Tamil Film Producers Council is now run by a DMK clique that does the family's bidding.

To top it all, the octogenarian, Karunanidhi who had been writing scripts only when he was in the opposition, has now taken to it as a full time venture, ignoring the fact that all his films continue to be miserable flops at the box office. But why certain producers continue to finance his films is another story! Well, only recently the patriarch declared his assets, which is according to him, is no more than Rs 6.2 crores in cash besides his residence.

How then could his family members have found the resources for bank- rolling so many films? To this the wily script writer has a readymade answer: "Through hard work and intelligence". But the reality on the ground seems to suggest otherwise.

Every other income-tax search operation against a film industry personality is attributed to the hidden hand of the Karunanidhi family. Even those with political ambitions are getting marginalised in the film industry. Like the popular hero Vijay. The family hegemony has spawned widespread resentment in the film industry and how this resentment plays out in the coming assembly polls would be something quite interesting to watch.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/St...kollywood.html

[somu_87]

7 Kinds of “Hits” in the film industry-Allu Sirish
Back in the day the difference between a hit, average & flop was clear. A hit meant that film that was seen & liked by a lot of people & collected good money. It usually collects 120-150% of the budget. A superhit film was one that did exceedingly well at boxoffice. It was quite simple to know which movie was a hit & which wasn’t.

But modern-day film business is so complex, that it is very hard to classify a movie. Also the term “hit” has become vague and relative. Almost like the idea of ‘good’. What might seem ‘good’ to one person or segment, might seem ‘bad’ to another. Likewise, a film may be or seem like a hit to some people or segments, while it is not one to some. Confused?

Read on. Not all ‘hits’ in the industry are the same. They come in 7 varieties. But what the industry needs today is the last one I mentioned, the good old “hits” or ‘universal hits’ as they’re known today. Though, I have written this keeping Telugu Cinema in mind, the same applies to Bollywood & Tamil cinema.
12:23 pm (5 hours ago)
Rohit.V
Producer safe, distributors loss :

The movie’s producer makes the film with his money, adds a handsome margin and sells it off to distributors. Regardless of the movie’s performance at boxoffice he is “safe”. In most cases even if the movie collects well, because of the high prices it was sold for, it won’t be financially profitable for the distributors.

Distributor safe, producer loss :

This is a rare instance but does happen often. Often, the movie goes over-budget or was shot was beyond its market. In that case, the producer sells it off for less than the movie’s budget and limits his loss. Unless the movie goes onto be a smashing blockbuster, its unlikely he will recoup his costs. If the movie does ‘well enough’, the distributors who invested in the film would make small sums, where as the Producer would go home with a loss.

For ex : A film that released in 2010, was made on a budget of 14 crores. The producer could sell the theatrical rights of the movie only for 8 crores. He raised another 4 crores from satellite, music, overseas & home-video rights. In all he made 12 crore of business and took a hit of 2 crores. When the film released, it did well and recovered a little over 8 crores at boxoffice. So the trade terms this film a ‘hit’, while in reality it was a loss-making film for the Producer.
12:24 pm (5 hours ago)
Rohit.V
Media hit/perception hit :

Hits of this variety are more frequent in our industry offlate. The movie usually is a backed with a high-decibel campaign. If the word-of-mouth is even slightly positive, the producer launches a big campaign trumpeting its success by hosting press meets, publishing inflated collections in advertisements and having “paid coverage” in magazines, newspapers & television. In most cases, the film would attained break-even or modest profits, but it’s perceived to be a big hit.

While the intelligent section of the audience doesn’t buy the hype, most people are gullible and actually believe the movie is a huge hit. A lot of producers in our industry are not serious filmmakers. They’re here for the kicks, glamour or fame.They are happy living with the “hit” tag, than really making money from the films. Hence we see more of “perception hits” these days.

ROI Hit :

This is the “Return on Invesment” hit. Some films might not collect a big sum at the boxoffice or enjoy a great word-of-mouth, but because of the low cost it was made or sold for, it’s a financially successful project for all or most parties involved. Another case for an ROI hit, is that the film has a A-list star and opened with great hype in hundreds of screens. Though, the response might be mixed due to the superb openings, the movie would have recovered its cost. This is reason distributor’s have craze for movies featuring big actors as they have the crowd-pulling capacity.
12:24 pm (5 hours ago)
Rohit.V
Sleeper Hit :

Some films when they release have an moderate opening & decent word-of-mouth. Usually, its expected such films don’t last long at boxoffice. But these films, either due to the theme or the loyal audience the star commands makes small sums of money every week, over many weeks. Though in terms of buzz & perception it’s not seen as a big hit, the movie ultimately would have made huge money at boxoffice.

Territorial Hit :

Some films perform inconsistently at the boxoffice. Though overall the movie is not counted as a success, some films perform better than expected in certain territories. Usually, the while producer or other distributors might have lost money, the distributor from this one particular territory would have made money.

It’s usually because the hero of the film enjoys extra craze in that area, or because of the film’s theme. For ex : Sarkar Raj collected very well in Mumbai as it had ‘local relevance’ where the rest of India it under-performed. Usually, each hero has his bastion where has as edge over other heroes.

Also, certain types of films perform better in some areas. Love stories and family dramas tend to do better in Nizam, overseas & Karnataka. There are many instances where some films perform well only in certain territories. There are many instances when movie portals have rubbished film, which fared poorly overseas but went onto be blockbusters in India. This happens in Bollywood too.
12:25 pm (5 hours ago)
Rohit.V
Hit/Superhit/Blockbuster :

These are films which enjoy a good word-of-mouth, collect very well and are financially profitable to all the parties involved – producer, distributors & exhibitors. Like I said earlier, the industry needs more hits of this variety – a film that qualifies to be called a success on most counts.

http://www.allusirish.in/2010/12/7-k...-filmindustry/

[NOV]

மலேசியா வாசுதேவன் கவலைக்கிடம்: திவீர சிகிச்சை

http://thatstamil.oneindia.in/movies...n-aid0128.html

[Plum]

Congrats and good luck to thambi CompfleakAter!

[HonestRaj]

Plum.. details please

[prashanth12]

Women's day special - on the sad state of heroines in Tamil cinema.

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/t...cle/64661.html

[Plum]

Aanest, compfli is the new appointed fil critic for the new indian express.
Baradwaj rangan has noved on to hindu

[SoftSword]

oh thats great honour have such people among us here.
congrats and all the very best compli... getthu kaattunga.

[printhan]

Thats good to hear.. good luck