Varuvaara Vaathiyaar?

The Karthi — Nalan Kumarasamy film, Vaa Vaathiyaar is scheduled to release this Friday (Is it?) and the promotions are being done in a hush-hush manner, thanks to the haphazard release strategy of Studio Green. Though I don’t have basic expectations after watching the trailer, I’m still a bit hyped for it because of Nalan Kumarasamy — the man behind modern-day classical films like Soodhu Kavvum (2013) and Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum (2016) — and being a fantasy entertainer involving MGR. But my article doesn’t talk about this, idhu deal panra matter-ah vere.

Last Friday, one of the most anticipated South Indian films, Akhanda 2, a sequel to the 2021 blockbuster, which was scheduled to release on that date got postponed at the last minute because of the sudden financial problems related to 14 Reels, the producers of the film and the now defunct Eros International. It was later known that the two companies jointly produced Mahesh Babu’s 1: Nenokkadine and Aagadu, both 2014 films, which were huge box-office flops (sad that 1: Nenokkadine was one of my favorite films of his). While Mahesh had repaid some of the losses incurred for those films and had been in a good terms with Eros, producers within 14 Reels had to pay the remainder amount of those losses. Meanwhile, the company itself had a significant name change and one of the producers started an independent company, with only two people managing it. Even though, a film being stalled due to an unresolved financial conflict over 11 years, is something unacceptable and this is happening in an already financially flourishing industry. (Edit: Now, it is scheduled for Dec 12th release)

IMO, what happened Last Friday is the prelude to what would be happening this Friday also. 😬😬😬😬

Studio Green’s production ventures since 2017 (except for a few) had been mostly duds or films which did not yield them profits. This was even before the catastrophic results of Thangalaan and Kanguva. The list of films can easily determine this.

List of productions from Studio Green (excerpts: Wikipedia)

So, with the company in a pathetic financial situation, the two major flops had pushed them into a bottomless pit with no signs of recovery.

On top of their films not doing well, the company also involved in legal troubles. Especially with the dues of ₹21.78 crores having to be paid for the parties related to late Arjunlal Sunderdas, and they have ₹100 crore dues to paid to Reliance Entertainment as well. The financial condition is really pathetic, that could often lead to the hampering of the film’s release as well, especially in the last minute.

Credits: Manibharathi Selvaraj via Twitter (X)

Despite the abundance of talent and creativity, Kollywood is also notoriously known for last minute troubles due to financial problems. This was also a regular occurrence during the early-2010s, when you see the first shows of many notable Tamil movies got cancelled at the very last minute owing to financial problems. Even big stars aren’t safe from this. Remember, Kamal Haasan’s Uttama Villain which was stalled on the very first day of its release because of the losses incurred by Thirrupathi Brothers on Anjaan. This also had an impact on the film as it terribly underperformed, pushing the company into debts and financial turmoil, also affecting Lingusamy as well. Much of the films which made during the decade, had been lying in cans owing to the financial problems surrounding the producers.

Kollywood, being a financier-dependent industry, had also led to the dark side of how financial problems affect a producer, sometimes even to a dangerous extent (like the Ashok Kumar suicide in 2017). Back in the times, pre-release business for films had been a bit minimal, with only event films garnering huge pre-buzz and makers had to gain profits with buyers as well. Because of which, the hit ratio of Tamil films during that time had been a bit lower. For example, if 200 films released on a year, only 10 will be a certified clean hit, and big films getting huge profits would be minimal, unless if they sold the rights on a reasonable amount. Now, the OTT domination had saved some producers from getting troubled by financiers, but now the OTT platforms are making a course correction in the acquisition of films. This would mean that, the industry would soon move to the pre-COVID model where only theatrical business is the way to get profits for producers and buyers as well.

Back in the late-20th century, there is a studio model of film production, where filming, scripting and post-production happen in concurrent manners. Now, the trend has been diminished. There was a healthy relationship between producers and stars, where if a film flops, the star will return 50% of his paycheck or do another film as a compensation. MGR, Rajini, Kamal, Vijayakanth are such examples. That healthy relationship is missing currently. You can’t see financial troubles happening often in Tollywood or Bollywood, where Tollywood has the age-old studio model and the huge family background of actors, help producers in certain cases. In Bollywood, much of the producers are corporates, so they won’t be bothered about huge losses. Even in Mollywood, the producers make films within shoe-string budgets.

Coming to Vaa Vaathiyaar, because of all the issues revolving around Studio Green, the only person who is affected is Nalan himself.

Imagine, Nalan had no work for nine years since 2016, and the project was being made owing to his past relationship with the company on the first two films. Nalan who usually makes films on a quick succession, took around two years for this movie and had to work on reshoots at the last minute which was done in a hurry-burry manner. And the film is stuck in a bigger mess, because of the company’s past two astronomical losses.

I hope Nalan should get a producer like AGS in Kollywood or even other industry producers like Mythri/Hombale/KVN for his next venture. Because he is a talented person and needs more recognition in the industry. Heard that Nalan in an interview, said that he would direct a film every two years. I think it is a bit long, as we have waited very long for your next film after Ka Ka Po and need to give more films within a year, but I agree that he had to take much for writing his next script. Let’s hope he would continue with more films, but also collaborate with better producers to make things more easier for him.

Recent update: The fear becomes true as Vaa Vaathiyaar is now postponed.

Credits: LetsCinema via X (Twitter)