Delayed release impacts ‘Uttama Villain’ at box office
Chennai: Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan-starrer Tamil period-drama “Uttama Villain” has failed to create ripples at the box office due to its delayed release, says a trade pundit.
“Two weeks since its release, the film is yet to break even. The reason for poor show at the box office is the delayed release. Had the film released as initially planned on May 1, it would’ve opened to record collections,” trade analyst Trinath told IANS.
Ramesh Aravind-directed “Uttama Villain”, which was a highly anticipated release, was to hit the screens on May 1 worldwide.
Due to some financial issues between the film’s makers and financiers, the release of the movie was stalled on first day. It released on May 2.
“Big budget star vehicles rely heavily on the collections of the opening weekend. For ‘Uttama Villain’, an opening day collection of nearly Rs.10 crore was expected going by the pre-release buzz. But since the release got delayed, the numbers were affected,” he said.
The film is said to be loosely inspired by several events in Kamal’s life. It narrates the story of a superstar on the brink of extinction.
While the film was received well by the multiplex audiences, it was welcomed to lukewarm response in B and C centres due to its semi auto-biographical narrative tone.
Trinath says Aishwarya Dhanush-directed Tamil film “Vai Raja Vai”, which released along with “Uttama Villain”, ate into the business of the latter due to its delayed release.
“People who had come to the cinemas to watch Kamal’s film on the first day ended up watching ‘Vai Raja Vai’. Even the screens that were originally booked for ‘Uttama Villain’ had to screen Aishwarya’s film to accommodate the crowd,” Trinath said.
“Due to the delayed release of Kamal’s film, ‘Vai Raja Vai’ collected a whopping Rs.3.3 crore on the first day in Tamil Nadu. It was a small film and was received reasonably well by the audience,” he added.
Kamal has already moved on to his next Tamil-Telugu bilingual film titled “Thoongaavanam”, which is set to go on floors on May 24 in Hyderabad.
Rahul Tour Only To Wake Up Snoring Congmen!
AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi had come to Telangana not to call on farmers, but to wake up the snoring Congress leaders from deep slumber.
This was the observation made by Telangana Roads & Buildings Minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao on Saturday.
Tummala alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s “Bharosa Yatra” was aimed at boosting morale of the disheartened Congress workers in the State.
“It is shameful to hear that some people complained to Rahul Gandhi that farmer took to the extreme step during the Congress regime. Rahul should first reply as to why the UPA-II regime could not prevent suicides by farmers across the country”, he asked.
“Did Rahul’s Yatra meant to find fault with the fruits of welfare schemes reaching those who were denied them during the Congress regime? Rahul came here only to awake the snoring Congress men in the Telangana State,” he alleged.
Tummala sought to know why the AICC leader could not take up similar tours in the Congress-ruled States.
The Congress has no right to criticize the Telangana government as the Chief Minister was committed to provide a timely succor to the families of the deceased besides implementing many welfare measures for the downtrodden sections.
Jayalalitha Runs The Show Her Way
Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalitha is out of jail and there was talk that she would visit the AIADMK office and also go to a temple. But for the past four days, she hasn’t been in action and those in Tamil Nadu political circles are totally clueless as to what her plan of action is.
Well, she hasn’t met her close follower and Tamil Nadu CM Paneer Selvan till now and that has raised many eyebrows about her future course of action.
Amma hasn’t spoken to anyone as yet and the doors of her Poes Garden residence haven’t been opened since four days. So there is a lot of speculation within the party and other political parties in Tamil Nadu right now.
However, Jayalalitha did announce that she will hold a meeting of MLAs on May 22. Meanwhile, ministers have stopped attending Secretariat.
A Half-Crore Girl Now?
The beautiful ‘Raashi Khanna’ made her debut with ‘Oohalu Gusagusa Laade’. The success of the movie however created a sort of dilemma for her.
Since she was seen in a conventional and proper role in the film, Tollywood producers thought that she might not be suitable for glamor roles.
Her role in ‘Joru’ as one among three heroines barely got noticed. But the recently released ‘Jill’ worked wonders for her. Not only did Raashi don glamorous outfits in the film, she also locked lips with Gopi Chand in the movie.
The message went out to producers and Raashi became a heroine much in demand. It is now believed that she is charging Rs 50 lakhs per film and the producers are happy to oblige.
Well, the industry works on demand and supply and there is nothing wrong in making hay while the sun shines.
Young Leader Jogs For 10 Km Daily
AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi is said to jog for 10 kms daily and it is said that that’s the reason behind the speed with which he could take up the padayatra in Nirmal. In fact, the same was disclosed by Rahul himself when many leaders questioned him about his fitness and speed.
Prior to coming to Nirmal, Rahul was not particularly well as something he had eaten did not go well with his system. Though he was in a dilemma about visiting Nirmal, he did come as the farmers were waiting for him.
Once he completed his padayatra, Rahul rested for an hour in a house in Vadyala. The house was devoid of any modern amenities, yet Rahul spent an hour there and interacted with the locals.
Tollywood Participates in Swachcha Hyderabad
Now one is not sure if Talasani Srinivasa Yadav’s threats worked or if the film industry decided to do its share of social work for people, a whole lot of film stars came forward to participate in the Swachch Hyderabad programme adding their glamour touch to the whole event.
A whole lot of film celebrities participated voluntarily in the Swachch Hyderabad programme organized in Film Nagar.
MAA president Rajendra Prasad, veteran director K Raghavendra Rao, Venkatesh, Rana, Rajasekhar, Trivikram, heroine Rakul Preet Singh and Tanikella Bharani were among those who came forward to clean the area.
A few days back, Talasani had said that cinema had the power to influence the society and that it was the responsibility of film personalities to take up the cause and spread awareness about it.
It is known that some time back, Talasani had warned the film fraternity saying ‘it’s the Telangana government that is in power here, remember that and stop running around Chandra Babu’s house’. Of course, at the time, it did create quite a stir in the industry.
Well, whatever their reasons, it is indeed laudable that the film personalities chose to participate in the Swachch Hyderabad campaign and make it a success.
An Affair After Marriage?
He is a young Tollywood hero who is known for his dancing skills apart from having a good fan following. He is also married and blessed with a child.
Prior to his marriage, this hero was not known for any particular liaisons or affairs with any girls. But now the industry is gossiping that this hero is taking a personal interest in the career of a heroine.
Apparently, he has been recommending her name and even got her a few offers. Although those movies did decent business, they could not make her a star.
The actress on her part is doing everything to be in his good books. His wish is her command and understandably so, for being in his good books might mean a long innings in the industry.
Seems like a win-win situation for them both unless of course the wife finds out about the affair.
Rajinikanth gives fourth chance to that heroine!
If you got to romance Superstar Rajinikanth in a film, you got to be a Top heroine. Many heroines long to at least pair up once with the actor in their career. However Nayantara has got the chance for thrice until now.
She romanced the Superstar in Chandramukhi for the first time and then did Special Appearance in the Superstar films – Shivaji and Kadhanayakudu. Now it is coming out that Nayantara is getting the fourth chance.
This is for Rajinikanth’s upcoming movie to be directed by Pa Ranjith. However this news is yet to be ratified officially as earlier there were news that the Rajinikanth film will not have a heroine. On the other side, Rumours suggest that Nayantara may also be romancing Chiranjeevi in his 150th film. If both the news are true, it will be an epic moment for her.
Puri draws schedule for Auto Jaani!
Puri Jagannadh after the announcement of Megastar Chiranjeevi’s 150th film is busy finalizing the script of the film. It is said that Puri is planning a perfect schedule for the movie shooting. He wants to wrap up the film in 75 working days. Usually 75 days is less for a star hero like Chiranjeevi but knowing Puri’s pace, no one have the guts to comment on it.
The film will have a grand launch on August 22nd, the Birthday of Chiranjeevi and it will start rolling from September 2nd which happens to be the Birthday of Powerstar Pawan Kalyan. The team targets January 14th 2016 release as Sankranthi Special.
Ram Charan himself will be producing this monumental film. Interestingly Ramcharan’s debut film ‘Chiruta’ was directed by Puri Jagannadh and his first film as a producer will be also directed by the same Director. Reliable sources in Chiranjeevi’s camp tells us that Auto Jani is an out and out mass entertainer.
Bunny Tops all Telugu Heroes!
Stylish Star Allu Arjun until Julayi was never taken serious as a star hero. He started showing his commercial pull only from that film and established himself with Race Gurram which went on to collect more than 50 Crore share in its full run. However Race Gurram success did not remain as a one film wonder.
His next and most recent film, S/O Satyamurthy also collected 50 Crore share. The movie breached the mark on Saturday and became the second 50 Crore share film for Bunny. Interestingly, this is the first time any hero in Telugu hitting the 50 Crore mark with two back to back films.
Even Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu did not have two back to back 50 Crore share films till now. Prabhas and Junior NTR are yet to enter the 50 Crore club. We will have to see if Bunny repeats the feat with Boyapati film and make it a hat-trick!
Mahesh Babu is not Magadu!
The makers of Superstar Mahesh Babu’s next under the direction of Koratala Siva are still maintaining the suspense regarding the title of their film. Earlier it is said that Srimanthudu is the title and out of no where, a rumour erupted that it will be named Magadu. However the makers confirmed that Magadu is not the title of their film.
However they did not even confirm Srimanthudu as the title and asked fans and audience to wait till 31st of this month for the final announcement. That day they are planning to release the First Look Poster and Teaser of the film on the eve of Superstar Krishna’s birthday.
The makers have set a target of completing the entire shooting part by June 12th. Earlier the makers have announced July 17th as the movie release date but they are not sure now as Baahubali is releasing a week ahead.
