Tamil star Vijay is on the rise, and the box office performance of his latest release Mersal has put him on the path to be the next Rajinikanth, a pan South-Indian Superstar. However, there is one major problem for that and that in the two Telugu states.
It is purely a case of disastrous fate as the best films of Vijay were remade or released silently without much promotion. For example, the movie Thuppakki, best performed Telugu dub film Vijay came with no real hype and despite being good, didn’t do well commercially. Many felt that a remake would have put the movie as one among top 3 all-time positions in TFI, in the worst case.
It was followed by a virtual monopoly release, Anna. There were no Telugu films in sight due to the then agitation, but the film failed to live up to the expectations. Given the weak performances of these films, Kaththi was unable to get a direct release, and as it turns out, our producers preferred to remake it.
With Mersal, once again the poor release strategy continued, and at one point in time, many thought it would have the same fate as Kaththi. The indecisiveness has killed the buzz which is reflected in the advance bookings.
Mersal is a 200 Cr grosser at Tamil box office giving it a place among the All-time top 3. It elevated the status of Vijay as a star to a new level. Vijay even surpassed the US barrier with Million plus collections. But for him to be the next Rajinikanth, the final frontiers, Telugu states have to be conquered. Will that happen with Adirindi or will the wait continue for the foreseeable future?
