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Content is king, not superstars: Kerala, TN box offices conquered by small-budget movies

Small-time movies are rocking the Kerala and TN box offices, showing that audiences still root for content and not superstars.

Ayyappa Prasad

Published Nov 15, 2022 | 3:29 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 15, 2022 | 3:29 PM

love today jaya jaya jaya jaya hey

Small-budget films are ruling the roost in Kollywood and Mollywood. (Supplied)

Two small-time movies have been rocking the Kerala and Tamil Nādu box offices for the past two weeks.

They are bringing cheer to the trade and those who believe that audiences still root for content and not a star-driven, high-pitch marketing blitz extravaganza.

Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey in Malayalam, with no stars in it, has earned ₹21 crore in 17 days. In Tamil, Love Today earned ₹35 crore in its 11-day run. Here again, the selling point was only the director, Pradeep Ranganathan, who gave the hit film Comali in 2019.

On the horizon in Kerala now is Mukundan Unni Associates, starring Vineeth Srinivasan, which is showing signs of turning into a blockbuster. It has touched the ₹1-crore mark in three days.

Director Vipin Das’ Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey features Basil Joseph, a successful director, as the male protagonist and deals with the issue of domestic violence humorously.

The film gives the wife (played by Darshana Rajendran) the role of a trendy woman who hits back physically at her hubby and slaps her at the drop of a hat.

The casting of Darshana as the self-taught karate exponent and Basil with the good-guy image getting into the role of a hubby seeking revenge for the humiliation in public did the trick.

This plot caught the imagination of women to such an extent that a former woman minister of the Left Front came out in praise of the lady protagonist.

In 2016, Das directed the comedy film Mudhugavu with Gokul Suresh and it was a modest hit. After that, he made the thriller Anthakshari, now streaming on Sony LIV.

The Tamil hit Love Today has director Pradeep playing the male lead. The director said in interviews that he narrated the film’s subject to many heroes. Apparently, no one came forward to star in it.

It was then that AGS, who produced big-ticket films with the likes of Vijay Thalapathy (Bigil), agreed to bankroll it.

The company, now under a young woman head Archana (daughter of the owner), struck gold with the comedy film Naai Sekar, starring Satish.

Now, Love Today paid trade figures to say that the film cost ₹4 crore and to date has collected ₹35 crore from theatres alone.

Its teasers were aimed at the IT popcorn crowd — those hooked to smartphones and dating — and a distribution network like Red Giant Movies was an added feature to propel the film.

Udhaynidhi Stalin of Red Giant Movies said that he saw only the first half of the film and told the producer that he was distributing it. Udaynidhi’s father (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin) and mother Durga saw the film and came out and told him that it was superb.

“Why not exchange our mobile phones like in the film?” Durga asked her son and husband.

Rajinikanth praised the director after watching the film.

In Kerala, another film with a low budget and no big hype is making good collections.

Mukundan Unni Associates, starring Vineeth Srinivasan in the title role, also received critical acclaim. However, after five days, its collections in Kerala fell below 50 per cent and touched only ₹1.89 crore.

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