Tamil, Telugu Films Score Better Than New Hindi Releases

Two Hindi films came out last week but south Indian films that released on the festive occasion of ‘Pongal’ and ‘Makar Sankranti’ ruled the Indian box office over the past week. Telugu films Veer Simha Reddy and Waltair Veerayya as well as Tamil films Varisu and Thunivu have scored better than both the new Hindi films – Lakadbaggha and Kuttey.

Aasman Bhardwaj’s directorial debut Kuttey and Victor Banerjee’s directorial venture Lakadbagha had dismal opening collections at the ticket windows in India. Bhardwaj is the son of musician-filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj who is best known for his dark films such as Maqbool, Omkara and Haider. He produced the new film Kuttey directed by his son. Kuttey could not even manage to cross $ 1 million over the first week in India. The film could not attract audience despite a stellar cast that included Tabu and Naseeruddin Shah, alongwith Arjun Kapoor.

Meanwhile, Vijay’s Varisu also crossed $20 million worldwide in ten days of its release. Directed by Vamshi Paidipally, Varisu is a family drama and also features Rashmika Mandanna in the lead role. The film also stars Prakash Raj, Prabhu, Khushbu, Sangeetha and Yogi Babu.

Ajith Kumar’s Thunivu has crossed $1 million in the US alone. The film grossed $28 million worldwide. Thunivu is directed by H Vinoth and features Kumar alongside Manju Warrier, Samuthirakani, John Kokken, and GM Sundar.

Directed by Bobby Koll, Waltair Veerayya has grossed $19 million worldwide, and it also ranked on the tenth slot on Comscore’sSCOR
list of top grossing films in the US over the weekend ending January 15. The Chiranjeevi-Ravi Teja film earned $905,000 in the US in the first three days alone. Chiranjeevi in the titular character. Ravi Teja plays his cop brother while Shruti Haasan is paired opposite him. Catherine Tresa, Prakash Raj and also star in the film.

Nadamuri Balakrishna’s Veer Simha Reddy grossed $12 million in a week. Featuring him the double of father and son, the film also focused on righteous men, how their life becomes difficult because of the evil people around them and how they eventually win nonetheless. The film also featured Shruti Hassan and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in important roles.

Trade analyst Atul Mohan says Kuttey may not have performed well due to a lack in the marketing strategy. “The director was new and the audience somehow did not connect with the trailer. Maybe, because there was too much violence (in the film) and it was like something people cannot watch with family. Also, Tabu’s image of late is very different – you know, with her performances in films such as Bhool Byulaiyya and Drishyam 2. Here (in Kuttey,) she is using abusive language and all that. I think people could not connect with the film.”

He adds, “Also, it was too dark a movie and on top of that, the promotions was not too much. I think the marketing was not enough, you need to make the audience connect with your film. It was just one event that they did. Even the reviews for the film were not great, many films pick up (at the box office over the weekend, or subsequent day) despite low marketing just because of a good word-of-mouth but there was no such case here as the audience did not connect with the film. There were no other films to compete with Kuttey, but it did not work at all.”