With Ayogya, Kadaram Kondan, Thala 59, NGK, Kollywood gears up for the big summer rush

Tamil cinema is gearing up for the big summer rush. Already in the first 45 days, 25 films have released, clogging the release pipeline. As per the scheduling, another 25 will release till end of March. Fifty films in three months is nothing new to Kollywood which regularly clocks over 200 films a year. Normally the peak summer period of April, May and June are considered the best period to release Tamil films, especially the star spangled biggies. [caption id=“attachment_5591331” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Vishal in Ayogya. Image via Twitter[/caption] This year, the line-up of summer releases looks attractive. Here is a list of films which have announced a summer release, with tentative dates. On 5 April, there is Vishal’s action-packed Ayogya, a remake of Telugu hit Temper (already remade in Hindi as Simbaa). On 19 April for the Easter weekend, there is Vikram’s action entertainer Kadaram Kondan and Lawrence’s Kanchana 3. Producer Boney Kapoor has announced that his Pink remake in Tamil with Ajith tentatively called Thala 59 will release on 1 May. And so will the Sivakarthikeyan – Nayanthara comedy entertainer Mr Local. And it looks like Suriya’s eagerly awaited NGK may hit the screens May end or June first week. All these above mentioned films are in the finishing stages of production. There are also a slew of small and medium budget movies from a dozen Tamil actors who have some kind of opening. They need to be censored, financial matters sorted out before the final release call can be taken. In Kollywood, there are no firm dates and many times the audiences know that a film has released only on its release day. There is so much uncertainty in the industry as far as release dates are concerned, which is making the exhibitors unhappy. Rupan Mathivanan of GK Cinemas, who control six screens in Chennai suburbs, said: “The trouble with Tamil cinema is that they do not announce release dates well in advance especially for festivals.  Last year, a record number of films had financial issues and some of them did not release on time which led to cancellation of shows. Compare this with Hollywood or Bollywood, where films release dates are announced at the launch of film itself. Today I really don’t know what Tamil films are releasing for summer 2019, but I have already made my plans for the big release of Avengers: End Game on 26 April.” [caption id=“attachment_6086291” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Suriya in the NGK teaser. Image via Twitter/@TrollVeriyans[/caption] Meanwhile, industry veterans feel that this summer season has huge challenges for the film industry. First and foremost the parliament elections are to be held in April and May in India, which is a distraction of sorts for the movie industry. A veteran Tamil film producer said: “The election campaign itself normally affects the box-office collections. Most of our core audiences mainly the youth will be doing election work for various political parties.”  And with the election schedule and dates yet to be announced, there is confusion in the trade over summer releases. Another regular problem the industry faces is the IPL cricket season comes bang in the middle of peak summer season. But now over the years IPL live telecast of matches and Tamil movies have found ways to co-exist with each other. However, what is worrying the trade is that ICC Cricket World Cup begins from 30 May in England, and that is the mother of all tournaments. And this year from May first week, Ramzan fasting starts with Eid falling on 5 June, which also takes away a large chunk of the audiences. Looking ahead, all those Tamil films which are slated for summer is yet to firm up their release plans.