Ilayathalapathy Vijay 's New Mission with A.L Vijay - Thalaivaa

[ilayapuyalvinodh_kumar]

Style matters
Khaleejtimes

Vijay’s Thalaivaa trumps Malayalam releases This Eid festival season has been some sort of a wake- up call for Malayalam filmmakers, going by box office reports. Trumping all Malayalam releases – and they were a handful – was actor Vijay’s Tamil action flick Thalaivaa. Released alongside Shah Rukh Khan’s Chennai Express (another non-Malayalam film to gain heady initials), Mammootty’s Renjith film Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty, Prithviraj’s Memories, Kunchacko Boban’s Lal Jose flick Pullipulikalum Attinkuttiyum, and Dulquer Salman’s Neelaakasham Pacha Kadal Chuvanna Bhoomi, the Vijay film has stolen a march over the rest in box office collection.

With record screenings going on from 7 am to 4 am at some centres, the film is a quintessential thriller and its response has indeed baffled industry watchers. What helped its fortunes even more is the rather disastrous show of the Mammootty film, which has fetched Renjith much panning.

Meanwhile, Dulquer Salman’s film is gaining ground, more through word of mouth, and led by the youth, who now decide any film’s box office initials. The Lal Jose film, which typically attracts family audiences, has received a mixed response, even as it stands to gain from family audiences. For several years, Malayalam cinema has tried to ape Tamil in terms of stylisation and fallen flat.

Vijay’s Thalaivaa was marketed in Kerala through slick posters and a large number of release centres – strategies that have usually worked for Malayalam films. Now it appears that unless the Malayalam film industry veterans focus squarely on content and give the viewers something new to cherish, the chances of box office favouring them – even if it be the mightiest names in the industry – are slim.