Ajith's 'Vidaamuyarchi': Why The Film's Postponement Is Creating Havoc In Kollywood This Pongal

The New Year began disappointingly for the Tamil movie fan. On the 31st of December, Lyca Productions, makers of Ajith Kumar’s upcoming Vidaamuyarchi, directed by Magizh Thirumeni, released a press note announcing that their film would not hit theatres for Pongal. The note simply read, “Due to unavoidable circumstances, our film Vidaamuyarchi will not be releasing on Pongal day.”

With no major films ready to take up this spot, a bunch of smaller films are now fighting it out to find a spot for Pongal, usually considered the most lucrative period for a Tamil movie release. In 2024, the same festive season saw the release of Dhanush’s Captain Miller taking on Sivakarthikeyan’s sci-fi comedy Ayalaan. A year earlier, we also saw another infamous clash when Vijay’s Varisu released alongside Ajith’s Thunivu. It’s also important to note that some of Tamil cinema’s biggest blockbusters have been Pongal releases, including films like Baashha (1995), Pokkiri (2007), Viswasam (2019) and Dhool (2003).

Without any clarifications from the production side, theories began to float about why Vidaamuyarchi would let go of this coveted release date. What made fans of Ajith question this decision was also how the star’s other movie Good Bad Ugly (helmed by Adhik Ravichandran) had earlier backed off to accommodate the release of Vidaamuyarchi.

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According to sources, the theory floating around the postponement has to do with Lyca Productions being asked to pay a sum of $10 million for the remake rights of the 1997 English-language action film called Breakdown.

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell, J. T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan, was distributed by Paramount Pictures. The source added that this sum was to either be paid upfront to Paramount for the rights before release, or the Indian makers could also try negotiating a partnership with the American corporation to see that their film got a smooth release.

Trade analyst and columnist Sreedhar Pillai feels this is a costly miss both for the producers and the industry. He adds that Vidaamuyarchi was already a long-delayed film and should have capitalised on the Pongal weekend. He says, “Vidaamuyarchi had earlier announced its release on Thursday, the 9th of January. Given that the next Monday is a holiday as well, the film could have enjoyed a five-day public holiday for release, a rarity that comes along once in a year. The film has squandered this opportunity.”

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He feels that if the makers have postponed due to its issue with the remake rights, they could have worked backwards to sort it out before announcing a date. “This feels like a major mismanagement from the team. They could have quietly bought the remake rights and then began filming. If they knew this all along, why wait until now when they have no power to negotiate?”

He adds, “It is as though they decided to procure the rights after the film’s trailer came out and the world realised it was based on Breakdown. In the social media era, it is strange to believe that you will not be caught for borrowing from older films.”

This confusion has led to as many as 11 films trying to get screens for a release during Pongal. At last count, these are Game Changer (a Telugu film directed by hit Tamil director Shankar), Vanangaan, Padai Thalaivan, Freedom, 2K Love Story, Kadhalika Neramillai, Madraskaaran, Ten Hours, Tharunam, Nesippaya and Madha Gaja Raja. We also have the case of films like Madha Gaja Raja and another comedy titled Sumo — projects that were made several years ago — trying to find a release now.

Yet the real damage seems to be for Kollywood. Speaking about the losses, Pillai adds, “The original release slot was for a maximum of three films this Pongal, starting with Vidaamuyarchi. This was going to be distributed by a powerful company like Red Giants, giving the film more than 800 screens. The opening five-day weekend alone may have recovered the cost. But with no big film in sight, it looks like the theatre owners will be the one that suffer most.”

A distributor-exhibitor, who did not want to be named, explains his stance, “A regular viewer can only afford to watch a maximum of one or two films this season. It might be a tradition for them to watch a Pongal release, but none of the 11 films trying to get a release are meant for such a festive occasion. They will struggle to find an opening and we are going to be looking at empty theatres for Pongal.”

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With so many releases, all within the small to medium budget category, he feels word-of-mouth alone can ensure minimum footfall. “Most of these films are yet to sell their rights to an OTT platform. Even so, the profile of the films is such that most people will prefer to watch it later on streaming, even if reviews are good. A festival release needs to be a bigger and colourful, preferably with a superstar. For these films, it is as good as mass suicide.”