Telugu and Tamil January releases attract audiences back to the cinemas in South India
South Indian Pongal releases “Master” and “Eeswaran” have been met with good reviews by critics and audiences and are performing well at the box office, marking a resurrection of cinemas in south Indian states. Images circulating online show large crowds outside cinemas waiting for their turn to get inside with very few of them wearing masks and entirely disregarding recommended social distancing guidelines, in a resemblance to pre-Covid days.
“Master” had almost 25% of its 3,500 screens going houseful on the first day of its release across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka cinemas. The first day’s box office revenue is not known yet, but it is estimated that the film may have already grossed 40 crore Indian Rupees (£4 million, $5.4 million) in ticket sales.
The action-drama, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj (Kaithi), follows an alcoholic professor (Vijay), who is sent to a correctional facility, where he clashes with a gangster (Vijay Sethupathi), who uses the children of the school for criminal activities. The film also stars Malavika Mohanan (Beyond the Clouds).
A Hindi dubbed version titled “Vijay The Master” is releasing in Hindi-speaking states in north India today (14 January). The drama is expected to draw in more crowds over the next few days on the back of its good reviews and likely to recover its budget and marketing costs by the end of its first weekend. The digital streaming rights have already been sold to Amazon Prime Video and whilst the streaming release date has not been announced yet, it’s expected that the film will start streaming from February 2021 like last year Pongal releases Darbar and Pattas which were up on Amazon Prime Video in February 2020, a month after their theatrical release.
T.R. Silambarasan’s comeback film “Eeswaran”, that released earlier today (14 January), is set in rural Tamil Nadu and revolves around a middle-class family whose simple and joyous life turns into a nightmare with internal familial disputes.
The drama, directed by Suseenthiran (Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai), also features Bharathiraja (Pandiya Naadu) and Nidhhi Agerwal (Munna Michael).
“Eeswaran” has opened to packed houses earlier today and has received positive reviews so far, which is likely to translate to good business over the long holiday weekend.
Telugu language film “Krack”, directed by Gopichand Malineni (Don Seenu) and starring Ravi Teja (Neninthe) and Shruti Haasan (Srimanthudu), attracted audiences in large numbers to the cinemas upon its release on Friday, 8 January setting a precedent for the upcoming Telugu releases this year.
The phenomenal response from cinemagoers to “Krack” led the makers of Telugu comedy-drama “Alludu Adhurs”, starring Bellamkonda Sreenivas, to move forward the film’s release date from 15 January to 14 January to cash in on the long holiday weekend.
Also releasing today is Telugu language action-drama “Red”, directed by Kishore Tirumala (Chitralahari) starring Ram Pothineni (iSmart Shankar) in dual roles, Nivetha Pethuraj (Tik Tik Tik), Malvika Sharma (Nela Ticket) and Amritha Aiyer (Bigil).
“Red” has reportedly had a good start at the box office when compared to the other Telugu release “Alludu Adhurs”, however both the Telugu films were dominated at the box office by the Telugu-dubbed version of “Master” that released a day earlier and is receiving good feedback from Telugu audiences too.
Jayam Ravi’s Pongal release “Bhoomi”, directed by Lakshmanan (Bogan), started streaming on Disney + Hotstar last night and has received lukewarm reviews from critics.
The Tamil drama follows an Indian NASA astronaut (Jayam Ravi) who gives up an opportunity to be the first man to land on Mars and instead returns to India where he tries to improve farming practices and encourages young people to take up farming in the state of Tamil Nadu whilst at the same time clashing with a powerful corporate leader of a multinational company.
Critics slammed the film for its poor execution despite an interesting plot and praiseworthy performance by its lead actor Jayam Ravi (Miruthan).