11 Days to Raavanan - Marketing starts


The entire trade is eagerly looking at the trade prospects of Raavanan and Villain in south. Reliance Big pictures who are marketing it wants Rs 50 crore from the Tamil (Rs 35 Crore ) and Telugu (Rs 15 Crore) versions. But there are no buyers at that price.

In Tamil, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Pictures and Dhyanidhi Alagiri’s Cloud Nine had pitched in with reasonable amounts hovering around Rs 25 C. This price is for theatrical Indian domestic and television and DVD rights, but Big Pictures is sticking to their price.

The producers feel Vikram plus Mani Ratnam should get Rs 30 Crore for theatrical alone for TN, Kerala and Karnataka. However Mani Ratnam’s last release in Tamil Ayudha Ezhuthu was commercially a failure. The trade thinks that his films do not penetrate to B & C, and is basically an urban phenomenon.

On the other hand there are no buyers for the Telugu version Villain, as the price being asked is close to Rajinikanth’s Sivaji price. And of late, movies from Tamil dubbed into Telugu have bombed. Added to that Vikram’s last release Mallanna (Kanthasamy in Tamil) and Mani Ratnam’s previous Telugu Yuva were lukewarm at the Andhra box-office.

The next three days are very crucial to Reliance Big Pictures and Madras Talkies, as 60 percent of the commercial success of the entire project in all three languages depends very much at what price Ravanan and Villain are sold.