KALCHAs THULASI BOX-OFFICE UPDATE
I AM really GLAD to inform you all that I have been PARTLY WRONG and PARTLY CORRECT in THULASIs Box-Office Prediction. Very obviously, I am Glad for being PARTLY CORRECT. But also GLAD that I am PARTLY WRONG. The reason being that at least A center Telugu film audiences are showing signs of maturity and rejecting even the STAR movies. The recent examples are CHIRUTHA, ATHIDHI and THULASI. Coming to the Thulasi, it is one of the weakest movies of Venkatesh. I reviewed it so badly that it was in stark contrast with my Box-Office Prediction. But still, I was expecting a Blockbuster. So, did it really make it? The answer is NOOO. But it is a HIT anyway. THULASI is doing AVERAGE business in A centers, ABOVE AVERAGE business in B centers and BLOCKBUSTER business in C centers. So, overall THULASI is a HIT. But many of the A center audiences would perceive it as just an AVERAGE film.
Let me give you an example of an obscure film that many of you might not even remember. It is PUTTINTIKIRA CHELLI of ARJUN. It was one of the biggest hits of the year it got released but none from the A centers even knew about it. Like I always said, every film is not and need not be made for everybody. The same thing can be said about THULASI. But the profit percentages will be lower for THULASI as it had been acquired at a steep price by the buyers when compared to PUTTINTIKIRA CHELLI.
THULASI did really FLOP business in the Overseas. But no one really expected for it to do well in the overseas circuit. I really wonder as to why do these Distributors buy the rights of most of the films with out using some common sense. Anyway, Distributors in USA invested Rs. 1 + 0.12 Crores for it and until now the movie collected only Rs. 0.6 Crores. So, very obviously it won’t make it to the safety zone.
As far as the Andhra pradesh is concerned, as I said earlier, it is doing SAFE and sound business overall. No one is going to suffer loss in A.P. And what really made me ecstatic about is the fact that THULASI team did really reveal the true figures in their success meet (KUDOS TO THEM!!!). THULASI did really GROSSED 12 Crores in 12 days. Those figures are indeed a PERSONAL RECORD for Venkatesh’s movies. But they look paltry in comparison to the CHIRUTHAs and ATHIDHIs FAKE figures. And Thulasi is doing roaring business in some districts such as GUNTUR. Suresh Film Distributors released the figures for GUNTUR as Rs. 1,13,40,276/- in only 20 DAYS in only 15 CENTERS. These figures have been cross checked by my sources and they seem to be true.
So, overall THULASI is a success.
UPDATE: 22/11/2007
THULASI has crossed Rs. 22 Crores mark and is on its way to end up around Rs. 25-26 Crores in its entire run.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
U deserve a praise for accepting the fact that u have got it partly wrong.I always feel that the most courageous persons are the ones who are capable of admitting their mistakes. Coming to the awards Hi Dude,
Why only speak of Best Actress award, what about Best Music Director award? Dont u feel that Keeravani deserved an award for Ramadasu? Also what about Devi Sri? he seems to be a man of very limited potential. He seems to work around 4 or 5 tunes only. Wats ur take on this?
November 12th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
DEAR GOWER RAMESH,
Thanx for your encouraging words…
I agree with you that KEERAVANI deserves the best music director award for SRI RAMADASU. But the Telugu film industry is corrupted and generally do service to meet their own personal means. So, they chose the MOST POPULAR MUSIC over MOST QUALITATIVE MUSIC.
KEERAVANI is a musician at heart. His quality of music is supreme in semi classical, devotional and in Hindi. As M.M.KREEM in Hindi, he gets in to his alter ego and provides some lilting music. But his quality deteriorates when it comes to the regular Telugu commercial numbers…
When it comes to DEVI SRI PRASAD, I don’t agree with you… Because he is MUCH WORST… DEVI HAS MORE NUMBER OF MOVIES THAN UNIQUE AND ORIGINAL TUNES. He repeats himself and mostly copies others. But he does show some flashes of talent now and then… But it is mostly just a FLASH.
I’ll give you an example… BOMMARILLUs POPULAR MELODY “Bommanu Geesthe…” is a STRAIGHTLY LIFTED, SLIGHTLY IMPROVISED, LARGELY URBANIZED version of ILAYARAJAs RURAL FOLKSY TUNE “Bulli Pitta Bujji Pitta…” from Venkatesh’s CHINNARAYUDU.
I really don’t mind REMIXES… as they do not claim to be original tunes. But I really get frustrated when one COPIES other people’s hard work. There must be some credit given… in one form or the other…
I hope I answered Ur question…
But feel free to pose any questions RAMESH.
November 12th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Thnks a ton for ur reply. The process of posing questions is becoming a pleasure as i get an answer for every question i pose. Really nice to be speaking to ppl like u who do some proper and objective analysis, unlike most of the websites which mostly publish gossips and hear say news. Keep Going KALCHA…Good Luck
November 13th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Good that Venkatesh proves himself to be extremely honest about his films’ collections.I think,by now it’ll be 20-22 crores.I heard that he’s also not known to uselessly force even his ’superhit’ films to run for 100 days in so many centres.Wish there are more such practical guys in Tollywood.
November 13th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
What about Manisharma?What do you think about him?
By the way,I find that many cine websites start off very well tending to be honest in what they write,but sklowly in order to gain further popularity and coverage,they try to be partial with one hero/family and end being crap.Hope yours won’t turn out like that.You make good analysis.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Hey Gower Ramesh,
THANX a lot man… Good luck to U as well…
Dear Ganesh,
I totally agree with U that Venkatesh is one of stars who is always on the better side of common sense, practicality and honesty. I think he is also the first one among the senior stars who started doing married guy roles with regularity. That’s rare in our cinema…
I’ll answer about Mani Sharma leisurely some other time…
And I wouldn’t disappoint you Ganesh… I cannot speak for others but I wouldn’t get to the wrong side of the line…
November 16th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Hi Kalcha, Iam sandeep.You Are doing a great job. Iam a big fan of venkatesh.Can u let all of us know how many crores tulasi has collected till date.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hi Kalcha, u r box office update abt tulasi is true.yes i agree with u tulasi is dud in over seas market, but movie is doing well in andhra especially in B,C centres, with u r vision how much business will do tulasi in long run,pls give me the reply
November 19th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
DEAR SANDEEP & SURESH,
First of all I Thank U both.
Generally Venkatesh is like a “Lambi Race Ka Ghoda”… If a Venkatesh’s movie is gonna be a HIT, it runs with an Average Talk and generally collects very heavily over a sustained period of time. A Popular Telugu Proverb “CHAPA KINDA NEERU” would be very appropriate for his movies…
As for THULASIs gross is concerned, I expect it to close just above Rs. 25 Crores mark. Remember that AMAV collected above Rs. 27 Crores in its entire run. And it was declared as one of his biggest hits. So, it is ridiculous that THULASI is still being talked as a FLOP by some that are still pissed at the fact that CHIRUTHA and ATHIDHI are FLOPS.
And now-a-days, even popular media is coming out with at least PART FACTS…
GREATANDHRAs latest Box-Office:
1. HAPPY DAYS
2. THULASI
3. ATHIDHI
4. CHANDAMAMA
5. YAMADONGA
I think that more than clears the fact that CHIRUTHA was never in contention and is in fact is the biggest FLOP of the year. But ATHIDHI is just a tad better than CHIRUTHA in its Box-Office performance.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Thanks for the updates Kalcha.Can you post a review on Pokiri .I have not seen the movie and do not want to waste money on renting a DVD
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Dear Mayur,
I’ll try to write a review on POKIRI… but only when I get time to watch it again. Because I can write a whole and detailed review as soon as I watch the movie. Later on I can just express opinions. But if the movies are great, then every frame would be etched in my memory. And it is certainly not one of them.
My opinion on POKIRI is that it is a thorough entertainer. It doesn’t take a toll on Ur senses. Though it is not well scripted, it has one of Puri Jagannath’s strengths - - - CHARACTERIZATION. He creates a unique BODY LANGUAGE for his lead characters. In POKIRI, he succeeds in this aspect. Both Ileana and Mahesh get subtle and punchy one liners and charming body language. Mahesh Babu’s best movie would undoubtedly be still OKKADU (Barring the climax 15 minutes).
Keep coming again my dear MAYUR.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Hey kalcha,
Excellent work…Be unbiased like u have always been…I just have a small clarification….Dont u think chirutas collections are far better than athidhi…Various websites have reported that chiruta s guntur colection is 1.9 crores whereas athidhi s is just 1 crore and in other areas also chiruta is doing far better than athidhi…I am a fan of venky…Do u think thulasi records are genuine
December 4th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hey kalcha,
Guess u are busy..Please do answer my questions
December 4th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
DEAR VARUN,
Sorry for being late. I am currently working on some features on my blogs. As soon as I upgrade my sites, I will start updating the posts.
The actual problem with Chirutha and Athidhi is that both were excellent openers. Athidhi opened to huge record collections… in fact, the highest ever in Tollywood (But the official claims were FAKE). If U do really observe, UTV never claimed the exact figures officially through their company communique. UTV is a publicly traded company. So their accounts are audited. But when it comes to the overall collections… Chirutha fares slightly better… NOT IN GROSS TERMS… BUT BECAUSE THE OVERALL INVESTMENT AND PURCHASE PRICES OF ATHIDHI WERE MUCH HIGHER. SO THE LOSSES WERE MUCH HIGHER TOO FOR THE EXHIBITORS.
BUT, BOTH ARE GENUINE FLOPS. THERE ARE TWO THINGS ABOUT THAT.
COMING TO THULASI, THE COLLECTION FIGURES ARE GENUINE AND THE THEATER RECORDS ARE ALSO TECHNICALLY GENUINE. BUT THE FACT IS, RAMA NAIDU OWNS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY MANY OF THE THEATERS THAT THULASI WAS BEING EXHIBITED IN.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, AFTER YAMADONGA, HAPPY DAYS… THULASI IS ALSO A HIT BUT MORE SO IN C AND THEN IN B CENTERS.
DEAR VARUN, I WILL START UPDATING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE… PLEASE COME AGAIN AND EXPRESS URSELF.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Ok….Thanks for replying…The thing is in superhit s weekly collections athidhi s gross so far is much less than tulasi in most areas and half of what chiruta collected in those areas…Since superhit.co.in is an unbiased website i have asked u the question…please c those collevtions in the weekly collections section of superhit.co.in…As far as the movie tulasi is concerned i have checked the collections at chitoor regularly and have found that it has collections on par with many blockbuster movies of the past…
Even in kandukur tulasi is still running whereas athidhi is not….I still dont understand why many people are saying tulasi is a bad film..I am not saying it is a pathbreaking film..But barring the climax i guess the rest of the movie is watchable..Especially the scene after the interval was good..Wat do u think were the weak points
December 7th, 2007 at 6:01 am
DEAR VARUN,
YES. U are bang on. I have been saying the same since the day these movies got released. Now, it is an open fact although fans might not agree that CHIRUTHA and ATHIDHI are FLOPS.
ATHIDHIs case is the more funniest. Every crew member including Mahesh, Amrita, Surender, Krishna (Not even a direct member), Murali Sharma and others tried and finally gave up their efforts to propagate the FAKE collections. As I said in my Prediction… Athidhi opened huge and fell miserably as the Telugu audiences are maturing at a fast rate. Almost Chirutha’s case is the same.
Coming to Thulasi, I predicted that Thulasi will be a HIT while everyone else was going GA-GA over FAKE ATHIDHI and CHIRUTHA collections. I said that I didn’t like Thulasi personally but surely predicted the Box Office RIGHT.
Varun, Box Office is a weird phenomenon. Every GOOD movie is not a HIT… Every BAD movie is not a FLOP… But the most important thing to remember is the fact that most of the MEDIA completely overlook the C centers and gauge the performance of a movie just by A centers. After YAMADONGA, THULASI is the only movie that enthralled the C centers and B centers. Most of the opinions we hear are from A centers as the media only focuses on them. C centers have no voice in the media but they liked THULASI if not as much as they liked LAKSHMI.
December 8th, 2007 at 10:44 am
absolutely…I have one more query regarding the so-called 3 comeback heroes…uday kiran,tarun and nitin….Even if they taste a success at some point in their career what would their future be like….Coming to nitin, he has tried to act in mass films and has failed miserably…I would not like to pan amma rajshekar because if he had done the same with raviteja it would have done wonders..I had seen the tamil version and dhanush who had done a wonderful job there….Even if he can NTR and MAHESH are there for mass films…BUNNY is dowing quite well in class movies so nitin has no perfect place for him to succeed as all the fans are with the other people..The same is the case with uday kiran…All the lady fans are with MAHESH and BUNNY now..Tarun though has a different platform i.e if he plans his career on sentimental movies like nava vasantham..He may replace venky but he cant achieve the success of venky though..
So unless the scripts change there is no scope for these guys..wat say??
December 18th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Dear Varun,
I am sorry for my late response…
U r absolutely right. Already these comeback heroes have been proven FLOP once again. But I have a feeling that NITIN would sustain way in to the future. He is not even a good actor as of today. But to become a success in Tollywood, talent comes in the last place. As for TARUN, he is the most talented actor among the three. But the movies he does and the latest release is also… U know SPEECH oriented. Venkatesh has a much wider span in his choice of roles. He has been a romantic hero, an action hero, a comic hero and more than anything else… he is a sentimental king of sorts in Telugu. I don’t think UDAY KIRAN has any bright future. He is just a piece of junk as of today. but I don’t completely rule him out either.
December 29th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Hi kalcha plz post the total box-office collections of thulasi…….
December 29th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
can u publish a list of top and worst 10 movies of 2007???????????
and i also want the review of tamil movie BILLA (AJITH KUMAR) .. plz can u do that?????