The Tamil film industry has delivered massive successes like Shankar’s 2.0, Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer, Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Leo and Vikram, and more. And yet, the thorn on their side is that the ₹1000 crore mark remains elusive to them, unlike the Telugu and Kannada film industries. In an interview with Cinema Express while promoting his recent release Madharaasi, Sivakarthikeyan listed out reasons why he believes Kollywood hasn’t achieved that yet.
Sivakarthikeyan on the elusive ₹1000 crore for Kollywood
Sivakarthikeyan’s 2024 biopic film Amaran was a massive success, but that film, too, collected ₹333 crore worldwide. When asked about it, the actor reasoned, “Like I said before, we did not think about the number Amaran would make while working on it. You cannot make a film like that.”
He then explained why Kollywood hasn’t produced a ₹1000 crore film yet: “Apart from the quality of a film, there are other factors to consider, such as ticket pricing. I am not in favour of increasing the ticket prices, but if we charged as much as in Bengaluru or Mumbai, then Jailer would have easily crossed ₹800 crores, if not ₹1000 crores.” The Rajinikanth film had collected ₹604 crore worldwide.
Sivakarthikeyan also mentioned in the interview that he believes Tamil films need stronger penetration in the North Indian market to achieve these numbers. He claimed that the four-week deals they sign with OTT platforms hinder distributors in the North, as they prefer films with eight-week windows. However, he remained optimistic that the number would be achieved soon.
AR Murugadoss says you cannot write films keeping ₹1000 crore in mind
Ahead of Madharaasi’s release, the director of the film, AR Murugadoss, also spoke to Sudhir Srinivasan on the topic. He mentioned how the film industry had a phase where they would look for films completing 100-150 days in theatres, and now it’s all about how much it makes at the box office and where it ranks compared to other films.
“You cannot write thinking this film must make ₹1000 crore, that is not the way to do it. Holding the audience’s interest is the only thing you must focus on. Those ₹1000 crore will be an achievement if that works. But is it correct to have numbers as your target? It must be all about the presentation and storytelling,” said Murugadoss, adding, “When I made Ghajini, I just knew I wanted it to reach audiences in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, and nothing more. My main goal was to generate that interest.”
Madharaasi released in theatres on 5 September and collected ₹68.75 crore worldwide in four days of release.
