South Indian cinema industry is feeling the effects of demonetisation, that was set rolling by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a fortnight ago.
Until the first week of November, three to four films released every week in Tamil and Malayalam filmdom. This often lead to good films barely getting enough space to last in theatres beyond a week. All that has changed over the last two weeks.
Last week there was only one release in Tamil, the GV Kumar starrer, Kadavul Irukkan Kumaru.
Malayalam had a single release too, Nadir Shah directed Kattappanayile Hrithik Roshan.
This week again only one big starrer Tamil film is set to hit screens- Jiiva’s Kavalai Vendam.
In Malayalam, it’s 10 Kalpanakal directed by editor turned director Don Max. Max’s crime thriller revolving around women features Meera Jasmine, Anoop Menon and Kaniha in the lead.
Demonetisation also affected shooting of films. Some were stalled due to the shortage of small currency notes, affecting the payment of daily wages to smaller technicians who are paid at the end of the day.
Theatres in the state also recorded a low turnout, especially in small towns. The urban multiplexes where online booking is done also suffered with a decline in viewers. The shortfall in small currency notes and the invalid old notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 becoming the curse.
December will usher in releases of films that have been waiting in the wings.
Look out for Vijay Antony’s Saithan (Tamil), Suseenthiran directed Maaveeran Kittu, (Tamil), Venkat Prabhu’s Chennai 28-Part 2.
In Malayalam, gearing up for release are Dhyan Sreenivasan’s Ore Mukham, Kamboji (featuring Vineet and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy), Gemini, (with Esther Anil, the little girl of Drishyam in the lead) and more.
Stay tuned.
