A day in the life of a hardcore film actor’s fan has so far been considered to be pretty clichéd — worship the actor, indulge in fan rivalry on social media platforms, organise welfare activities and celebrate the first day first show (FDFS) show with over-the-top excitement.
But, fandom seems to have reached a new high these days. Staunch followers of A-listers like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ajith, Vijay, Suriya and Vikram, are now acquiring distribution rights of films and converting their fandom into a new fad!
This recent trend in Kollywood is being welcomed by fans with wide arms. Most distributors, however, do not see it as an everlasting effort.
In fact, Karthik Thirunavukarasu, a software engineer from Mexico, paved the way for Vijay-Keerthy Suresh starrer, Bairavaa’s release in Mexico. He says, “I have been a fan of Ilayathalapathy since his Thullatha Manamum... days. I had planned to go to USA to watch Bairavaa, but unfortunately, my visa was rejected. That’s when I got an idea to secure the distribution rights, and started my own label called Kushi Films. I got in touch with distribution company AP group’s Arun Pandiyan through a friend Kaliraj — they encouraged me and sold the movie’s rights.”
But, Karthik had to face several challenges with Mexico being a virgin market for Indian films. “For starters, I got associated with a distribution firm called Legions of Mexico and released it. After the success of Bairavaa, we developed good relations with leading overseas distributors like the AP group and others. We released Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in Mexico and surrounding states,” Karthik reveals.
Meanwhile, actor Suriya, who has wide fan-following in Kerala, has a registered fan club — All Kerala Suriya Fans and Welfare Association.
The latest addition to their fan club activities is movie distribution. Venkat, secretary of the welfare association explains that they started the club in 2001 during the release of Nandha. “Suriya came to Kerala for the shooting of Sree. We bunked our school just to see the shooting of the film. Suriya noticed us and warned us not to bunk schools and promised a photo-session at the end of the week. He kept his word and we were impressed by his caring personality. The club became prominent during the release of Ghajini and we got it registered in 2007.” he shares.
Despite being a die-hard fan of an actor, it is tough for everyone to get tickets for the FDFS, states Venkat. “Likewise, we faced several problems and that is when Thrissur district’s president Ravikumar approached Studio Green’s Sakthivel for the distribution of Si 3. We acquired the rights directly from the production house and reaped in profits,” he adds.
Venkat further goes on to say, “When we decided to distribute the film, we in fact thought of using our funds for welfare activities like blood donation camps and lending money for the studies of under-privileged kids.”
Vijay’s Bairavaa was also released in Hobart, Australia, through another fan of the actor, Muthukumar Nachiappan.
“We loved Thalapathy in Kushi, but started following him seriously after the 2003 action film Thiru-malai. When I came to Hobart, initially there were no Tamil (actually any Indian) movies being released here. I did the first Tamil movie screening for Superstar’s Enthiran!”
Regarding the distribution process, Muthukumar says, “I book a cinema hall through Village Cinemas here, and get the movie’s print through Ayngaran International, Sydney. The process is extremely simple.”
Distributor and exhibitor Tirupur Subramaniam, who has decades of experience in the industry asserts, “It is a business at the end of the day. People jump into it without knowing the risks. They think it is like a screening for fans. The truth is that they can sell the tickets for a couple of shows — but it won’t last. The survival of a fan-turned-distributor is questionable in the industry. None of the top-hero movies earn profits these days. Even though they make wonders at the box-office collections, when they dissect it, very few films break even and earn profits. The majority of the collection goes to production value and very little is left for distributors. A new distributor should analyse the market and sell the film accordingly; then it makes sense.”
