Like Telugu cinema, Pongal releases are very important in Tamil cinema too.
Over the last few years, Tamil Pongal films have not only done well in Tamil but also performed strongly in Telugu and other languages through dubbed versions.
This year too, Vijay’s film Jana Nayagan created massive hype. It was promoted as Vijay’s last film before his political entry, and trade expected big collections regardless of talk.
However, things changed suddenly when the film’s release was postponed. Because of this unexpected delay, the Tamil box office is looking dull during the festival season.
With Vijay’s film out of the race, Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi got a clear release window. The film carried strong expectations for many reasons.
It shared the title of a classic Tamil film, dealt with 1960s Tamil politics and the Hindi anti-movement, and was directed by Sudha Kongara, known for handling serious dramas well.
There was also talk that Sivakarthikeyan could fill the space Vijay may leave after entering politics. All this created hopes of big box-office numbers.
But the reality turned out very different. According to Tamil trade circles, the film is heading towards a disaster.
Made on a budget of around Rs 100 crore, the movie released on January 10 but has failed to meet expectations so far. Trade sources say the worldwide collection is only around Rs 48 crore.
On the fourth day, the film reportedly earned just Rs 2.5 crore net in Tamil Nadu, with occupancy dropping sharply to 17 percent. After four days, the all-India net collection is said to be under Rs 30 crore.
Even though overseas markets brought in around Rs 17 crore gross, it is nowhere near enough considering the film’s high budget.
Trade estimates suggest the movie needs at least Rs 100 crore net to break even. With occupancy falling to 17 percent by day four, many believe the film is clearly moving towards a big disaster.