The year 2009 marked a new benchmark for the Tamil film industry, with over 130 films being released. Even though it’s a record in recent years, the positives stop here. For, more producers lost money than ever in the past and the industry hit a new low in terms of planning and budgeting, two major factors in filmmaking.
The year also saw television channels going in for overkill in terms of promoting a film, even to the extent of creating aversion towards a particular film.
“Of the around 130 films released during the year, barring a handful, most others lost money. The year saw about 80 small films hitting theatres, and most of them were produced by first-timers, who hardly had any idea about what they were getting into,” says Tirupur Subramaniam, a veteran film distributor in the Coimbatore region.
Ayan was the only blockbuster, besides a handful of films such as Nadodigal, Pasanga and Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu giving good returns in terms of investment. A few other films such as Padikaadhavan, Peranmai, Masilamani, Yaavarum Nalam and Renigunta, besides Unnai Poloruvan, Eeram and Kandein Kaadhalai did well in urban centres. Vettaikaran too chipped in towards the end in terms of higher opening.
“Most of these first time producers invested around Rs 2.5 crore in a film and could not even take home Rs 25 lakh. It’s been a tsunami year for the industry, as the industry lost an estimated Rs 250 crore, out of Rs 400 crore spent,” says Subramaniam. He said the fault lay with the newcomers who relied on technicians, including directors, for advice. These technicians turned out to be good storytellers for the producers, not the people.
“It was an okay year for the industry. It was neither good nor bad in terms of revenues. The good films ran well,” says Seenu, a distributor in North Arcot region. “Unlike earlier years, when a film would either have been an average, hit or super-hit, these days films are either a hit or a flop, leading to losses for most producers,” he added.
According to Seenu, Hollywood films such as Avatar and 2012, dubbed in Tamil, did good business compared with some Tamil films released with great fanfare.
“The collection graph throughout the year was around the middle path. It neither saw rapid growth nor a dramatic fall. No film other than Ayan did extraordinary business,” says K Meenakshisundaram, multiplex manager with the 10-screen Mayajaal on the outskirts of Chennai.
With the industry’s fortunes looking anything but exciting, established film productions houses such as Super Good Films stayed away from the production scene. Another leading banner, Oscar Films, which did not have a great year, too went in silent mode in the latter part of the year, perhaps, waiting for the much-needed turn in the industry’s fortune, which does not seem to be visible on the horizon as yet.
