The Diwali Showdown Results
Bollywood
Just as we guessed, OSO has emerged as the winner of the season. But everything is not going on just as we thought. We thought Saawariya will be overwhelmed with critical acclaim for making such an interesting film, but its just that what is eluding the film-critical acclaim. I didn’t read a positive review of the film till now. Everybody calls SLB was 'too self/over-indulgent’! Still, the Sony hype still lives on the drop in collections is not that steep. To be more precise, I could see a moderate crowd in front of Sridhar cinema in Kochi for the film, but again it was no match for the pooram-like overcrowding in front of Shenoys. OSO got over 95% collection in the weekend and is sustaining it well. Now, the multiplexes which refused to take the high-priced OSO will be missing the heat, with Saawariya getting an opening of about 85% but losing the sheen gradually. Now the technical aspects of Saawariya are being praised and two mallus are there in the team, two SLB regulars: camera-guy Ravi K. Chnadran and sound-guy Resool Pookutty. Also, OSO's sets are made by a Farah Khan regular, the brilliant Sabu Cyril. These guys really make us proud...
Kollywood
Diwali is the biggest season for Kollywood and there were 6 releases for the season. The overcrowding of releases, the blockbusters on TV, and the India-Pak cricket have affected the collections, and none of the films including VIjay's ATM are superhits. Nevertheless, ATM is obviously leading in the battle, closely followed by Surya's Vel. Interestingly, both Vijay and Surya dons double roles in their films! Dhanush's Polladhavan is at third and is the only film critically acclaimed. Its word-of-mouth publicity will make it sake in the long run. I expected Polladhavan to be in danger zone, but the films in danger zone happens to be Kannamoochi Yenada, Machakaran and the low-budget film Agra. Kannamoochi Yenada is doing moderate business in cities but elsewhere its a washout, while Machakaran and Agra have sank without trace. Another interesting fact, Yuvan Shanker Raja did music for 3 of the relaeses: Vel, Kannammochi Yenada and Machakaran and all 3 of the film music are lowest in the chart, ahead only to Agra. ATM got good initial in Kerala, because on 8th of November there were no competitors and the film was shown in Shenoys, a bigger cinema than Padma, in which it’s showing now. All other films, even Vel chose to distance themselves from the Kerala scene for the Diwali season. We can expect them here after a few weeks when the lustre of the bollywood releases and ATM dims.
Just as we guessed, OSO has emerged as the winner of the season. But everything is not going on just as we thought. We thought Saawariya will be overwhelmed with critical acclaim for making such an interesting film, but its just that what is eluding the film-critical acclaim. I didn’t read a positive review of the film till now. Everybody calls SLB was 'too self/over-indulgent’! Still, the Sony hype still lives on the drop in collections is not that steep. To be more precise, I could see a moderate crowd in front of Sridhar cinema in Kochi for the film, but again it was no match for the pooram-like overcrowding in front of Shenoys. OSO got over 95% collection in the weekend and is sustaining it well. Now, the multiplexes which refused to take the high-priced OSO will be missing the heat, with Saawariya getting an opening of about 85% but losing the sheen gradually. Now the technical aspects of Saawariya are being praised and two mallus are there in the team, two SLB regulars: camera-guy Ravi K. Chnadran and sound-guy Resool Pookutty. Also, OSO's sets are made by a Farah Khan regular, the brilliant Sabu Cyril. These guys really make us proud...
Kollywood
Diwali is the biggest season for Kollywood and there were 6 releases for the season. The overcrowding of releases, the blockbusters on TV, and the India-Pak cricket have affected the collections, and none of the films including VIjay's ATM are superhits. Nevertheless, ATM is obviously leading in the battle, closely followed by Surya's Vel. Interestingly, both Vijay and Surya dons double roles in their films! Dhanush's Polladhavan is at third and is the only film critically acclaimed. Its word-of-mouth publicity will make it sake in the long run. I expected Polladhavan to be in danger zone, but the films in danger zone happens to be Kannamoochi Yenada, Machakaran and the low-budget film Agra. Kannamoochi Yenada is doing moderate business in cities but elsewhere its a washout, while Machakaran and Agra have sank without trace. Another interesting fact, Yuvan Shanker Raja did music for 3 of the relaeses: Vel, Kannammochi Yenada and Machakaran and all 3 of the film music are lowest in the chart, ahead only to Agra. ATM got good initial in Kerala, because on 8th of November there were no competitors and the film was shown in Shenoys, a bigger cinema than Padma, in which it’s showing now. All other films, even Vel chose to distance themselves from the Kerala scene for the Diwali season. We can expect them here after a few weeks when the lustre of the bollywood releases and ATM dims.
