BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

Finally, the release of UTV Motion Pictures – Thirrupathi Brothers' Anjaan is just a couple days away. The movie is going to be Suriya's biggest release with approximately 1350 screens (considering the screen count of the movie's Telugu version, Sikander as well). With Suriya, Samantha, Lingusamy and Santhosh Sivan on board, the movie sure had its hype right from the earliest stages. But, to sustain the good talks and make it this huge, would definitely have been a challenge, and hats off to the team to have pulled it off.

 

Primarily, in a business as chaotic as the film industry, planning a release date and sticking to it isn't easy. UTV did it with ease for their earlier releases, and does it again in style – this time, for Anjaan, they got the long Independence Day weekend. For such efficient planning, it's no surprise that the movie has achieved so much !

 

Not just the producers, even the distributors are making lofty contributions to take Anjaan higher. Abirami Ramanathan, who is in-charge of the Chennai city circle, says, “We are releasing Suriya’s Anjaan in 37 theatres in the city. This is our earnest attempt to take the film to every possible theatre, nearest to the audience. We also intend to curb the rate of piracy as people wouldn’t be disappointed at not getting tickets in theatres. Last night, we opened the online booking plans of Anjaan and 5000 tickets were sold within a span of 2 hours in our complex. This is a record in itself.”

 

Not just leaving there, the team has also made a pioneering move to counter the devastating threat from piracy. Dhananjayan, of UTV Motion Pictures South, said, "Anjaan will be the 1st high budget film with a huge star, which will release only through digital screens. No physical print is allowed for Anjaan screening anywhere in the world. Having shot the film with 6K resolution quality, we want only digital. This ALL digital projection of Anjaan will also enable us to easily find where the piracy has emanated from, through special codes in each print."

 

Then, there is an Android game - "Race Wars" featuring 'Anjaan' Suriya, with some 'state of the art' graphics. These attempts would excite gaming enthusiasts and kids during the film release. Meanwhile, the other Independence Day big release – Singham Returns too features one such action game.

 

Even without such elaborate promotion drives, the movie would have brought in audience as the content seems strong and crowd-pulling – first look teaser and the trailer is dealing with million views.

 

Finally, the hero – the chief anchor of the movie - Suriya is among the very few heroes in Tamil cinema industry to be actively involved in marketing and promoting his films. He was present at almost all the events concerning Anjaan: thanksgiving event for the teaser's grand succes that involved media and fans, the songs screening event at Sathyam Cinemas, and also during the launch of the Android game. He also toured across Kerala and gave elaborate interviews to the Kerala media ! 

 

For a movie with such professionals – no doubt Anjaan has achieved big even before its release, and is to zoom higher with every passing day!

Mithun
Follow @Mith_Si