In our weekly peek into happenings in the southern film industries, a look also at Venkatesh's 'Ori Devuda'.
Published Sep 25, 2022 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 25, 2022 | 9:00 AM
Venkatesh and Vishwak Sen in 'Ori Devuda'. (SVC_official/Twitter)
Kamal Haasan starrer Vikram, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, was released on 3 June in five languages. Its run in theatres finally came to an end on Thursday, 22 September — that’s over 100 days in this day and age when even a two-week run is celebrated like a Silver Jubilee!
Vikram‘s longest run in a theatre was in Coimbatore, where it occupied the silver screen for 113 days — making way for a new Tamil release on Thursday.
So we don’t blame Team Vikram for lavishly celebrating these two awesome landmarks.
Apart from attracting, and entertaining, audiences in theatres, Vikram has had a good run on OTT as well. So what needs to be underlined now is how it has been a massive success.
And the third, and most important, landmark, the film recorded?
The Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil and Suriya starrer is the highest-grossing Tamil film this year at over ₹500 crore worldwide. And that, my friends, is more than double the second-highest-grossing Tamil film, Beast, at about ₹237 crore.
#100DaysofVikram #VikramRoaringSuccess@Udhaystalin @Dir_Lokesh @Suriya_offl @VijaySethuOffl #FahadhFaasil @anirudhofficial #Mahendran @RKFI @turmericmediaTM @SonyMusicSouth @RedGiantMovies_ pic.twitter.com/om38SguAkl
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) September 9, 2022
More than 15 Telugu films were released this month. Not even one of them can be called a hit — or even an above-average performer.
Each of them, except for one, is nothing less than a box-office debacle. Mostly small-budget films with small-time heroes managed to fetch only small collections at the box office.
The only film that saw some collections and can perhaps be termed a success is Oke Oka Jeevitham, starring Sharwanand in the lead role.
A sci-fi thriller, the movie is all about time travel. Amala Akkineni made a comeback to the movies after a yawning gap and did a great job in the role of Sharwanand’s mother. The film also gave a much-needed hit to Sharwanand.
The rest of the flicks, like Nenu Meeku Baga Kavalsina Vadini, Saakini Daakini, Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Cheppali, Dongalunnaru Jagrathha, First Day First Show, Alluri and others, hardly garnered any collections.
The last week of September will see two Telugu-dubbed Tamil films being released: Nene Vasthunna and Ponniyin Selvan. Expectations are huge from both these films.
Great to see audiences celebrating National Cinema Day by watching good cinema ❤️#OkeOkaJeevitham running to packed houses for the night shows all over ❤️?@ImSharwanand @riturv @amalaakkineni1 @twittshrees @vennelakishore @priyadarshi_i @prabhu_sr pic.twitter.com/OfNRxgd5D3
— DreamWarriorPictures (@DreamWarriorpic) September 23, 2022
Tamil movie Oh My Kadavule starred Ashok Selvan, Vijay Sethupathi and Vani Bhojan in the lead roles. Vijay literally played God in the film and it was clearly one of the more entertaining films he has been part of till now.
The film is now being remade in Telugu and is titled Ori Devuda and stars Vishwak Sen and Mithila Palkar in lead roles. Venkatesh Daggubati has been roped in to play the same character as Vijay Sethupathi. The makers even released a video as a glimpse of the character and welcomed Venkatesh on board. The film will hit the screens on October 21.
The remake will be directed by Ashwath Marimuthu, who directed the original as well. PVP Pictures is producing the Telugu remake.
