VISITOR COLUMN

Greetings!

This is something I just had to get off my chest. As most of you might be aware, one of the hot topics of discussion on the internet these days is the Box office fate of the recently released Rajinikanth starrer "Lingaa". In the aftermath of some distributors claiming losses and in the resulting furor, many bloggers and websites have resorted to calling Lingaa a "Failure" and have started questioning Mr. Rajinikanth’s star power.

Now am not going to comment on the authenticity of such claims nor do I want thrust my opinion on the quality of the film. I for one thought the film was fairly decent, but each person will have their own views on that and I respect it. I only wish to jog your memory a bit as to what happened a month back, when the movie hit the screens.

 The film registered the biggest opening ever for any Tamil film and also recorded the highest opening weekend for any South Indian film in Box office history. It also became the fastest South film to hit the Rs. 100 Crore mark worldwide. (If you have doubts regarding the authenticity of these statements feel free to scour the internet).

After that the film did see a noticeable dip in collections but many websites and sources have claimed that the film's grosses have exceeded Rs. 160 Crore which makes it the top grossing Tamil film of 2014 Worldwide.

Now my point is this. Against a budget of close to a 100 Crore, the film has grossed at least Rs. 160 Crore, in addition to breaking many box office records in its opening weekend. 

So if the distributors STILL suffered big losses, shouldn't it be put down to a bad business decision of paying too much for the end product? Ever heard of "Buyer beware"? 

So, I fail to see how questioning Mr. Rajinikanth’s star power is justified. Agreed, the collections dipped but isn't the thunderous opening alone a muscular display of his Crowd pulling capabilities? And it’s not like the film failed to recover its budget! If you consider its production cost you'll have to agree that its box office numbers look very handsome indeed!

Of course, no one needs reminding that the previous live action film of our Superstar (Enthiran) still holds the record for the highest grossing South Indian film and nothing even seems to come close to breaking it. So please, leave Mr. Rajinikanth alone. He doesn't have to prove anything to anybody.

My final word. By all means I accept that the distributors lost money, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the film is a "Failure". It is the distribution and profit sharing system that has to be blamed. Let’s show a little bit of respect to those box office numbers!

Cheers.

Ananth