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GK · 08-31-2006, 03:09 PM

NICE TOPIC BY ARAVIND

Too many movies, too few theatres!
Its been a rather hectic 2 weeks! As many as 5 films have come in the last 2 weeks including Keerthi Chakra, Chacko Randaman, Thanthra, Kalabham and Aanachandam.

These films cannot even release in the optimal number of centres necessary! With the exhibitors strike over, theatre operators seem to struggle to cope with the new releases. These are the major problems I observed.

1. Theatre management of New/Kairali/SreeKumar/Visakh

In a strange move, Prajapathy ran as 2 shows in Tvm New for the last week before getting removed by a Tamil film! Meanwhile, a superhit Hollywood film called Pirates Of The Carribean came only in a 500 seater SreeVisakh! Surely the movies should be reversed as Pirates is likely to get more collection? Most English films atleast come in Dhanya or New or S.L. complex. I wonder why such a move was initiated....

2. Thanthra stops screening after 1 week!

After much promotion and hype, the K.G. Bose directed Thanthra stopped its run in all centres due to lack of releasing centres and clashes with the other 4 films! There was an apology message in today's Mathrubhumi explaining the termination of the film's run. Not only might the film flop, but it is unlikely to re-release ever again! Even in a major centre like Calicut, it had to share theaters with Thalainagaram and Aarya!

3. Two films of the same distributor clash!

In a bizzare move, Johnny Sagariga decided to distribute Aarya, the Malayalam dubbed version of a Tamil film. Unfortunately this meant that the previous film Johnny distributed, Vadakkumnathan had to suffer. In Kannur Ambili, Mavelikara Pratibha, and now Trivandrum Kairali Aarya replaced Vadakkumnathan. Either the latter had to continue as noon show or shift to a smaller theater (as in the case of Tvm). This seriously undermined Vadakkumnathan's success and also meant that Johnny's promise to elongate VN's run, was to some extent, not fulfilled!

4. Insufficient releasing centres

All July films had to suffer because of this. Dileep's hit film Chess is running in less than 30 of its 45+ releasing centres, and in many of these remaining the film is only in mini centres! Chacko Randaman within 1 week has had to shift to many smaller theatres and in several places there seem to be 2 films releasing in the same theatre as per the ads of the various films! E.g. Kalabham and Aanchantham.

5. Can these films succeed?

Will any of these 5 films succeed? Keerthi Chakra has taken an explosive opening and might be saved, but Thanthra has withdrawn, Chacko Randaman is touch and go, and how on earth can a non-superstar film like Kalabham even survive? In Tvm Kripa it is charted to run for only 2 weeks as BCMG is coming on August 18th! Even if it shifts to Dhanya/Ramya once Mahasamudram comes the maximum run Kalabham can hope for in the most important center of Kerala is 4 weeks! Aanachantham has had to come as next change in centres like Chalakudy, Palai, Shornur etc and even Keerthi Chakra in some places has had to make way out of 1 of its 2 releasing theatres! Most probably the worrying thing is that all 5 will cancel each other apart as the cine lovers are spoilt for choice! Or one will emerge victorious eliminating the other 4.

6. How can these releases withstand the upcoming Onam films?

BCMG, Don, Mahasamudram, Pathaka, Red Salute, Classmates are all hitting theatres within a few weeks's time. That means we can safely say 10 films in A centers cannot run at the same time. Then these 5 films will have to make way for the Onam films, including Keerthi Chakra. So why release these films in the 1st week of August, when during the whole of July there were hardly any new releases? The main reason must have been the impending exhibitors strike that discouraged distribitors from doing so....And how will the Onam films be affected by these 5 films, in the event that one of them does succeed?

7. Even non-Malayalam films cant have a decent run

Pirates of The Carribean will have to be removed from some releasing centres after a week as Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna hits theatres next week. E.g. Clt Crown and Ekm Sreedhar! What happens if it does happen to do well in these centres? I guess nothing can be done about this...

8. Poor condition of theatres

This is a very serious issue, and one of the major reasons why the 5 are not getting sufficient theatres. Vadakkumnathan which did really well in Clt had to contend with a morning show and 2 shows in a mini centre for quite some time before becoming noon show. It had to shift to SreeVIshakh for some time because of maintenance work in Tvm Kairali. In Clt itself Blue Diamond, one of the most prestigious theatres in the city is on the verge of being demolished and is only screening A-films. Radha theatre and Sangam theatre has shut down. As the new films come one after another some films dont even get the chance to run as much as they deserve! Chacko Randaman that got 70,000 rupees on the first day in Clt Kairali had to shift to mini theatre Sree within just 1 week-with just 3 shows! Had the 3shut theatres been functioning effectively things would have improved. I am sure in many other places theater shortage is a major problem. Palakkad, for one, which used to have 8 theatres but now only has 5 or 6!

As the Onam films arrive and the 4 running films presently strive to make an impact, will the distributors and exhibitors come up with some inventive solutions? What suggestions or comments do us forum pals have? As cine lovers we would like the movies that are deserving to become big hits and such problems outlined above could undermine that. But lets hope that Onam is once again a festival to remember for all the movies....

08-31-2006, 03:09 PM	#24 (permalink)
GK Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: PALAKKAD Posts: 14,261	NICE TOPIC BY ARAVIND Too many movies, too few theatres! Its been a rather hectic 2 weeks! As many as 5 films have come in the last 2 weeks including Keerthi Chakra, Chacko Randaman, Thanthra, Kalabham and Aanachandam. These films cannot even release in the optimal number of centres necessary! With the exhibitors strike over, theatre operators seem to struggle to cope with the new releases. These are the major problems I observed. 1. Theatre management of New/Kairali/SreeKumar/Visakh In a strange move, Prajapathy ran as 2 shows in Tvm New for the last week before getting removed by a Tamil film! Meanwhile, a superhit Hollywood film called Pirates Of The Carribean came only in a 500 seater SreeVisakh! Surely the movies should be reversed as Pirates is likely to get more collection? Most English films atleast come in Dhanya or New or S.L. complex. I wonder why such a move was initiated.... 2. Thanthra stops screening after 1 week! After much promotion and hype, the K.G. Bose directed Thanthra stopped its run in all centres due to lack of releasing centres and clashes with the other 4 films! There was an apology message in today's Mathrubhumi explaining the termination of the film's run. Not only might the film flop, but it is unlikely to re-release ever again! Even in a major centre like Calicut, it had to share theaters with Thalainagaram and Aarya! 3. Two films of the same distributor clash! In a bizzare move, Johnny Sagariga decided to distribute Aarya, the Malayalam dubbed version of a Tamil film. Unfortunately this meant that the previous film Johnny distributed, Vadakkumnathan had to suffer. In Kannur Ambili, Mavelikara Pratibha, and now Trivandrum Kairali Aarya replaced Vadakkumnathan. Either the latter had to continue as noon show or shift to a smaller theater (as in the case of Tvm). This seriously undermined Vadakkumnathan's success and also meant that Johnny's promise to elongate VN's run, was to some extent, not fulfilled! 4. Insufficient releasing centres All July films had to suffer because of this. Dileep's hit film Chess is running in less than 30 of its 45+ releasing centres, and in many of these remaining the film is only in mini centres! Chacko Randaman within 1 week has had to shift to many smaller theatres and in several places there seem to be 2 films releasing in the same theatre as per the ads of the various films! E.g. Kalabham and Aanchantham. 5. Can these films succeed? Will any of these 5 films succeed? Keerthi Chakra has taken an explosive opening and might be saved, but Thanthra has withdrawn, Chacko Randaman is touch and go, and how on earth can a non-superstar film like Kalabham even survive? In Tvm Kripa it is charted to run for only 2 weeks as BCMG is coming on August 18th! Even if it shifts to Dhanya/Ramya once Mahasamudram comes the maximum run Kalabham can hope for in the most important center of Kerala is 4 weeks! Aanachantham has had to come as next change in centres like Chalakudy, Palai, Shornur etc and even Keerthi Chakra in some places has had to make way out of 1 of its 2 releasing theatres! Most probably the worrying thing is that all 5 will cancel each other apart as the cine lovers are spoilt for choice! Or one will emerge victorious eliminating the other 4. 6. How can these releases withstand the upcoming Onam films? BCMG, Don, Mahasamudram, Pathaka, Red Salute, Classmates are all hitting theatres within a few weeks's time. That means we can safely say 10 films in A centers cannot run at the same time. Then these 5 films will have to make way for the Onam films, including Keerthi Chakra. So why release these films in the 1st week of August, when during the whole of July there were hardly any new releases? The main reason must have been the impending exhibitors strike that discouraged distribitors from doing so....And how will the Onam films be affected by these 5 films, in the event that one of them does succeed? 7. Even non-Malayalam films cant have a decent run Pirates of The Carribean will have to be removed from some releasing centres after a week as Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna hits theatres next week. E.g. Clt Crown and Ekm Sreedhar! What happens if it does happen to do well in these centres? I guess nothing can be done about this... 8. Poor condition of theatres This is a very serious issue, and one of the major reasons why the 5 are not getting sufficient theatres. Vadakkumnathan which did really well in Clt had to contend with a morning show and 2 shows in a mini centre for quite some time before becoming noon show. It had to shift to SreeVIshakh for some time because of maintenance work in Tvm Kairali. In Clt itself Blue Diamond, one of the most prestigious theatres in the city is on the verge of being demolished and is only screening A-films. Radha theatre and Sangam theatre has shut down. As the new films come one after another some films dont even get the chance to run as much as they deserve! Chacko Randaman that got 70,000 rupees on the first day in Clt Kairali had to shift to mini theatre Sree within just 1 week-with just 3 shows! Had the 3shut theatres been functioning effectively things would have improved. I am sure in many other places theater shortage is a major problem. Palakkad, for one, which used to have 8 theatres but now only has 5 or 6! As the Onam films arrive and the 4 running films presently strive to make an impact, will the distributors and exhibitors come up with some inventive solutions? What suggestions or comments do us forum pals have? As cine lovers we would like the movies that are deserving to become big hits and such problems outlined above could undermine that. But lets hope that Onam is once again a festival to remember for all the movies....