Will Rajini's latest movie 'Kaala' stand the test of his political career?

The film's momentum may be curbed by various aspects, including recent comments by Rajinikanth on the Cauvery, Thoothukudi issues

Actor Rajinikanth's new movie, Kaala, the first film to be released after his political entry, seems to have generated little interest from the public, as tickets for the first weekend of its release are yet to be sold out completely. This is odd for a typical Rajini movie. The film, about a mass leader Kaala or Karikaalan in a slum fighting against politicians and villains, is scheduled for release on June 7 across the country. The good news for the producer is that it has already minted over Rs 2.50 billion as against budget of Rs 1.4 billion.

The film may see its momentum curbed by various aspects, including recent comments by Rajinikanth on the Cauvery, Thoothukudi issues supporting the police, which has hurt the sentiments of the protesters, say sources. The protest against the movie release in Karnataka, from where the actor actually hails, for his pro-Tamil Nadu stance on the Cauvery river water sharing issue, is expected to cost around Rs 100 million, if there is no last-minute resolution. While appeals have been made to the Karnataka government to provide protection to theatres ready to screen the movie, a truce is yet to be arrived at. 

A search on ticket booking site BookMyShow on Tuesday evening showed several seats remaining vacant, especially the lower valued ones, during Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the first weekend of the release. Even higher priced tickets for the Sunday show are yet to be sold off in some theatres. The movie is expected to hit 650-700 theatres in Tamil Nadu and a total of 2,000 theatres in various languages, including Telugu and Hindi, across the world. The movie is being released in countries like Singapore where various multiplexes are screening it, according to Wunderbar, the production company run by Rajinikanth's son-in-law and actor Dhanush, which also produced the movie.

Experts in the field feel the enthusiasm usually associated with Rajinikanth movies is lacking this time. This, despite the fact that the movie comes after a gap of two years since his last film 'Kabali' was released in July 2016. The reasons could be many, including the political entry of the 67-year-old actor and poor marketing.

An expert who wished to remain anonymous said Rajini's Tweet seeking a stringent law to punish the the attackers of on-duty police personnel, during the Cauvery protest, has been seen as a comment made without knowing the ground reality or the magnitude of the protest.

Similarly, after meeting the injured and the families of those killed in police firing on protesters against the Sterlite Copper facility in Thoothukudi, one of his first reactions was that the violence was instigated by anti-social elements and the government should control the situation with an iron fist. Those who manhandle police should not be let off scot-free and if people go for agitation on every issue, Tamil Nadu will be a graveyard, he said. While this could be his viewpoint, the manner of expression and the venue have invited substantial criticism.

The movie was scheduled as a summer release, in April, which would have been ideal. On the other hand, a release at the time schools are opening for the new academic year could impact the collection, said Sreedhar Pillai, an expert who closely tracks the film industry. The movie is also not seeing the level of interest which was seen when Kabali or the previous movie Endhiran (Robo) were released, he added.

Another expert, who does not want to be named, said Kaala was also not as aggressively marketed as Kabali. Advanced booking has not been encouraging at all, he said. Besides, a movie like Robo might have created a buzz, which cannot be expected in a more realistic movie like Kaala, he added.

However, Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners Federation President, Abirami Ramanathan said that at present, ticket sales have been good for Kaala for the first day of advanced booking. "We opened for booking on Sunday and within the day all 5,000 tickets were sold off for the weekend. We are not seeing any slowdown in demand. For the movie to be good or bad, one can only comment after the first show," he said. He added that the ticket price hike in the recent past will not have a dent in the collection if the movie is good.

The pre-release revenue includes the sale of theatrical rights, distribution rights in India and abroad, broadcast rights, audio rights. The movie also attracted a host of brands, but like in the past, the producers see these associations are to help the brand Kaala more visibly.

Rajini and Brand Promotion

Unlike Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachan, Rajinikanth never believed in endorsing brands directly, though his movies since the 80s have associated with brands for promotion through the film or during the release. Since 2000, the association for pre-release and post-release have grown and his last movie Kabali in 2016 literally became a trendsetter in the country.

Over a dozen brands were associated with Kabali, including AirAsia, which introduced a flight with Kabali Posters and has even run special offers for flights between Chennai, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur (this is the air route the actor travels in the movie) for the first day of the release. Cadbury Five Star’s commercial with popular characters Ramesh-Suresh had some scenes from Kabali and ended with the tagline Superstar’s Five Star. Muthoot Fincorp introduced Kabali silver coins and according to media reports, within a week the coins worth 102 kg were sold collecting around Rs 7.5 million for the company. Taxi apps Ola and Uber also launched special offers as did Foodpanda and Mobikwik.

The trend continues in Kaala also, Cadbury Five Star has now come out with a commercial that has scenes from the movie. Airtel India has also signed a deal and Havells India has teamed up to become the consumer durable partner for the film. CK’s Bakery, a bakery chain established by the Cavinkare promoter family, has announced the introduction of limited edition Kaala Choco Mocha Cake.

Apart from these, Coveritup, a Chennai-based creative design company which makes phone covers, coffee mugs, posters, tee shirts, laptop sleeves etc, had earlier introduced exclusive merchandise for Kabali and was roped in by the producers to design and produce merchandise for Kaala.