█▌▌Industry Hits,All Time Blockbusters & Top Grossers ◆ A Retrospect Of KBO Across The Years ▌ █▌

Before Pongal Release Thanne 58Cr Aayathu Alle. 63 Or 65 Dnt Remember Exactly.
Sites And Update Idunnavarude Figures Thanne.

 

Are big budget blockbusters on the verge of extinction :-



Back in the 50s, 60s, 70s :-
After MKT who was known for his devotional musical blockbusters left Tamil cinema, the torch was passed on to M.G.Ramachandran a.k.a. M.G.R. & Sivaji Ganesan. M.G.R. was known purely as an entertainer who mostly played people's savior in movies, while Sivaji Ganesan used to play roles that are generally heavy on emotions with very high melodrama. They were nick named Makkal Thilagam (People's pride or People's Hero) & Nadigar Thilagam (Pride of Acting) respectively .

Both of them entered the industry and reached the top after lot of struggles, hence they consider producers as their boss and were much humble with them. Budgets used to be in Lakhs, their salaries would be contributing around 10%. They used to do 3 to 5 films per year. Everything was under control, If a film flopped they would make plans to finish a quickie with lower salary and controlled budget as a compensation.

Once they started aging, M.G.R began to restrict the no. of films he did and concentrated more on politics, while Sivaji started playing supporting roles and roles that suited his age. This paved the way for Rajinikanth & Kamal Haasan to take over.
Though the no. of films they did was comparatively lower than the previous generation, they did learn ethics from their seniors. Rajini & Kamal also worked on other industries : Telugu, Kannada & Hindi and also remade films from other languages .

Everything was going fine as long they were responsible but starting from the 90s, budgets began to go out of control and so did their salaries. Their films made lots of producers, distributors and exhibitors rich, this resulted in new producers & distributors slowly entering the industry with little idea about film business. They used to borrow money from loan sharks and fund / buy films. In case their film flopped, it would push them deep down to debt. In one occasion Rajinikanth compensated distributors who lost their investments when his home production Valli bombed at the box office, something that he went on to do again with his future films Baba & Kuselan .

Kamal Haasan also had his fair share of big flops like Aalavandhan, Hey Ram, Anbe Sivam etc.


Rise of Thala & Ilayathalapathy :-

When careers of Rajinikanth & Kamal Haasan had hit a rough patch in early 2000s, tier 2 actors of their generation Vijay & Ajith began to rise. Vijay's "Ghilli" broke Padayappa's TN record and stood as All Time No.1, while Ajith gave blockbusters like Dheena, Villain, Varalaru & Billa. However their rise also resulted in return of investment hitting a new low as both gave big flops in between their blockbusters .




However its not just Vijay & Ajith, their seniors Rajinikanth & Kamal Haasan were equally responsible for it.

Rajinikanth's "Sivaji The Boss" was made at a very costly budget of 45 crores. AVM Productions demanded 35 crores for TN Rights which distributors felt was a highly risky deal. However since it also had big names like Shankar & AR Rahman, they reluctantly agreed to buy the film . Sivaji was the last film to sell 1 crore tickets in Tamil Nadu and closed with a share of 43 crores.

Rajinikanth's close friend Tirupur Subramaniam bought Coimbatore rights for 8 crores, it collected 9 crores share in full run. Though it was profitable, it earned just 1 crore profit at the risk of 8 crores investment, Subramaniam confronted Rajinikanth and told him that a blockbuster has given him only 1 crore profit, imagine what would have happened If the film had flopped ? Rajinikanth asked Subramaniam to chill and said that he trusts his producers and believed they won't let him down. Subramaniam however remained unconvinced and told Rajini that this risky trend will shake the foundations of ethics in Tamil Cinema. Subramaniam also slowly distanced himself from film distribution. AVM Productions also decided to stop producing films once they are done with their ongoing projects Ayan & Vettaikaran.

As Subramaniam expected, Rajini's next film Kuselan was a huge disaster resulting in its distributor Pyramid Saimira closing their company for good, they were also unable to fund Kamal Haasan's Marmayogi because of the losses incurred in Kuselan.

This was only the beginning, Kamal Haasan's Dasavatharam which everyone thought would break Sivaji The Boss' records failed to do so, it earned its producer Aascar Ravichandran 60 crores (Theatrical+Audio, Satellite & Digital Rights) against the 40 crores budget.

Producers & Distributors were very worried as Rajinikanth & Kamal did very limited no. of films while Vijay & Ajith gave mostly flops in that period. Suriya emerged as a ray of hope with Ayan . A Blockbuster that established Suriya as the most bankable actor of his generation . Though his next film Aadhavan managed to just breakeven in Tamil Nadu, his mass entertainer "Singam" was a huge blockbuster, it was the first Non-Rajini / Kamal film to collect 30 crores share.

While Distributors continued to debate who will be the next Superstar, they also felt Suriya was perfect to fill the spot of Kamal Haasan. Suriya's choice of scripts had shades of the varied films (Mass & Class) Kamal Haasan used to do when he was competing with Rajini . They set the Superstar debate aside and began to trust Suriya.

Few months after Singam's success, India's costliest film Endhiran released . Though it was very profitable in APTG, Karnataka, Kerala & Key overseas markets, it gave very little profit in Tamil Nadu. For instance, there is a B center where Endhiran was bought for 50 Lakhs but recovered only 39 Lakhs. A former distributor recalled an old Rajinikanth film which was bought for Rs.5000 but collected Rs.50,000 and wondered If something like that will ever happen again .

A year later the most bankable Suriya also disappointed few distributors when his Diwali release 7 am arivu managed to collect only 27.5 crores share against their prediction of 40 crores lifetime share. Ajith's Blockbuster Mankatha though 1 crore behind 7 am arivu in gross collected 29 crores share. The film which starred Ajith in a full length negative role broke all myths such as people like only heroes and not villains.

Suriya's Maattraan also failed to meet expectations and closed with 28 crores lifetime share. A month later, Thuppakki gave Vijay his full fledged royal comeback in style. His previous highest Nanban grossed only 43.5 crores in Tamil Nadu while Thuppaki's closing share itself was more than that (44.6 crores) . Distributors had high expectations on his next films, Thalaivaa & Jilla brought them losses, while Kaththi & Theri were only marginally profitable .

Suriya's Singam 2 collected close to 39 crores share in 2013. It made around 30% profit which distributors began to convince themselves that itself was huge as Thuppakki also gave them profits in the same range.


Ajith's Vedalam collected close to 50 crores share against 37 crores TN Rights. Producers of his upcoming film Vivegam are demanding 50 crores for TN Rights.

Fast forward to the present year,
Bairavaa collected only 40 crores share against its TN Rights valued @ 50 crores . Singam 3 is about to close with a share of 27 crores against TN Rights valued @ 41 crores .

Conclusion :-
Long back, an average grosser was a film which managed to earn back its investments . Above Average grosser was a film that earned marginal profits . A hit film was a film that returned twice the investment . A Super Hit gave around 2 times as much as its budget/rights . A Blockbuster gave around 3 times profits.

But today,
Blockbuster - 30% profits
Super Hit - 20% profits
Hit - Breakeven and some marginal profits .
Semi Hit - Around 5% loss
Above Average - Around 10% loss
Average - Around 20% loss
Below Average - Around 25% loss or close to 30% loss in case of own release.
Flop - Around 30% loss
Disaster - More than 30% loss .

When Distributors loss crores when a film is not a hit but earn only Lakhs when its a success . Can tier 1 actors give a genuine blockbuster in the near future ?

 

Adutha Thallu. BB2 Share Is Above Endhiran In TN. Even Mersal Share Is Above Endhiran Tat Too After GST. Dhurantham Thanne.

 

Unpopular Stories : The sorrows behind celebrations :-





Those who read our previous article would be aware of Endhiran‘s loss in few 3 to 4 small centers of Tamil Nadu. But stay calm, I’m saying this not because its a open secret but because what you are about know would be even more shocking.



Lets start with Baahubali 2
It sounds like a joke, Isn’t it ? . Baahubali 2 is 21st Century’s most watched Indian film. But it closed as a loss venture in one particular center in AP/TG. I’m forbidden from naming the center but I’m allowed to drop subtle hints. The center is ruled by the Nandamuri Clan (Late NTR, Balakrishna, Jr. NTR). Remember when Chiranjeevi clashed with Balakrishna earlier this year ? . Khaidi No.150 had clear lead in all centers but here, Gautami Putra Satakarni was ahead of Khaidi . That justifies the center’s position as Nandamuri’s fort.
Lets come back to Baahubali 2, the first part generated 22 Lakhs revenue in Nandamuri’s fort, the distribution was handled by an experienced sub distributor who also runs 3 theaters in the center. He was interested in buying Baahubali 2 as well. However this time, he had to face competition from a least experienced sub distributor who holds a grudge against him.
Main distributor demanded 27 Lakhs to give him Baahubali 2. But as expected his rival came forward and offered 28 Lakhs to sign the film. The betting competition escalated to a whole new level and in the end Baahubali 2 was signed for a whopping 36 Lakhs.
The experienced distributor however wasn’t upset in giving up Baahubali 2 because he knew betting anything close to 35 Lakhs will surely result in loss and his prediction more or less came true when Baahubali 2 hit the screens.
Closing revenue of Baahubali 2 stood @ Rs.35,87,000, thus resulting in a loss of Rupees Thirteen Thousand.


Who is to be blamed for the negligible loss ?

ARKA Mediaworks sold Baahubali 2 everywhere for huge sums but in most cases, they were worth the investment and looked recoverable. But in this case, the loss was because of rivalry, this least experienced guy was concentrating more on snatching Baahubali 2 away from a veteran that he forget that his bets may prove to be too costly to recover.
Next North America,
where Baahubali 2 was purchased for a whopping 75 crores, this again was a huge miscalculation as the 1st part collected only 35 crores share and with the revised sharing ratio in USA, recovery was almost impossible.
North American distributor Great India Films had smartly sold the film area-wise in USA to a certain set of exhibitors and recovered what he payed to buy the film. Its unpopular opinion but that’s the truth, Baahubali 2 was only marginally profitable in North America and a small section of exhibitors faced upto 15% loss.
Irony is, the losses don’t seem to have bothered producers. They are blindly thinking that the success of Baahubali franchise has expanded the market. The reality is Baahubali had unimaginable hype which is either very difficult or impossible to recreate and the 2nd part had unreasonable ticket prices even in centers which compromise of conservative audience.






Take the same Nandamuri fort for example,
Tickets were generally priced at a modest Rs.150, but Khaidi No.150 who was adamant in breaking Baahubali 1‘s opening day record demanded prices to be hiked to Rs.200. The hike is not only illegal but also compelled Gautami Putra Satakarni to follow suite.



Thus, the top 5 before Baahubali 2‘s release was
Baahubali 1 – 22 Lakhs
GPS – 19 Lakhs
K150 – 18 Lakhs
Jr. NTR's Janatha Garage, Mahesh’s Seethama Vakitlo & Pawan Kalyan’s Attarintiki Dharedi collected around 16.5/16 Lakhs approx.
Coming back to the sub distributor who faced loss in Baahubali 2,
this guy had demanded further ticket price hike to Rs.300.
This resulted in the unthinkable happening.
6 shows were scheduled in each theater (3 theaters release) .
But only 6/18 shows went houseful on the opening day.
Thus, Baahubali 2‘s opening fell short of the 1st part by Rs.10,000
Baahubali 1 – Rs. 5.6 Lakhs
Baahubali 2 – Rs. 5.5 Lakhs
The 14 Lakhs difference in closing is because of 2 reasons, Baahubali 2 had super positive Word of Mouth and summer holidays helped in getting excessive footfalls in weekdays .
Big budget film producers overlooked the loss and assumed Baahubali 2 closing as an excuse to say the market has expanded. Truth is market remained the same, gross is increasing only because of ticket price hike. Hindi films run longer than regional films in North America because ticket prices were affordable.


Last month, when Jai Lava Kusa theater charting was happening, the main distributor made a ruthless claim, “This is Nandamuri Fort, when people can pay Rs.300 to watch Baahubali 2, surely they will pay Rs.500 to watch Jr. NTR on screen” and requested the sub distributor to hike ticket prices.
Under pressure from main distributor and Jr. NTR fan club head, the sub distributor reluctantly hiked ticket price to Rs.500 . Deal was signed for 24 Lakhs MG (Which means Jai Lava Kusa had to beat all films baring Baahubali 2 to recover rights price) .
Guess what happened ?
Jai Lava Kusa opened to terribly disappointing occupancy and it didn’t have a single a houseful show in Nandamuri fort.
Jr. NTR’s Nanakku Prematho collected Rs. 5.4 Lakhs (Ticket Price – Rs.150), that’s still his genuine best opener, Jai Lava Kusa barely managed to equal it despite tickets priced @ Rs.500 .
The same situation was there throughout AP/TG, Jai Lava Kusa managed to set new Non-Baahubali gross opening record but per screen occupancy was one of the lowest ever for a biggie. Courtesy of the wide 1700 screens release and hiked ticket prices.
Jai Lava Kusa faced 9 Lakhs loss which is a huge embarrassment since it happened in Nandamuri Fort. The loss is because of 2 reasons, first reason is rights was overpriced and second is people can’t afford to pay such unreasonable prices for tickets.
Baahubali 2 is an all time blockbuster, its an undeniable fact. Lets assume the losses in North America & one center in AP/TG are mathematical errors.
What about Jai Lava Kusa ? leaving Jr. NTR‘s paycheck, its a medium budget film then why was it priced above closing collections of Janatha Garage ?
Baahubali's success has unfortunately created a market expansion myth.
Jai Lava Kusa is overall an average grosser but If those who faced huge loss were questioned they will say its a box office failure. No one can understand their sorrows behind the celebrations.
Producers are concentrating on creating more hype for their films to sell them for table profits, they end up forgetting that creating good content is equally important.

 

BB2 only tamil gross 135 C nett 108 share 65 C
BB2 all version gross 150 c nett 120 share 72 C
Endhiran gross 105 C nett 105 share 70 C
inganeyalle????so endhiran>bb2 (only tamil)

 

Bhooloka Thallu Aanallo Motham.

 

diwali periodilokke pinne enganeyannu machane????njn arinja karyam paranju...thats all my friend is in pondicherry my cousins in chennai my uncle in coimbatore & i was broughtup in kanyakumari....

 

Ingane Allallo Athinu. Pinne Engane Aavum. Avar Thanne Parayunnu Endhiran Share 64 Ennum.

 

pinne enganeyanu sahodhara onnu paranje????

 

evideyanu thalliyathu???onnu parayaavo???