Kerala
 

Raj from Singapore - "I am back to Singapore after my 2 week break in India ... at Kerala and in Tamilnadu. I had the chance to visit places like Cochin & Palakkad at Kerala and Pollachi, Coimbatore and Palani at Tamilnadu during my trip to India.

And guess what?! I did watched our CM twice at Kerala ... and I am amazed to see that the movie is doing wonderfully well in Kerala! Here are some of the catch words used in the theatres at Kerala:

"Thellinjirikkunnu, Ithu Rajini Yugam" (Means: It's proven that this is Rajini's rule!)

"Vishuvinu release aaya padangalil ithu thannae Number 1" (Means: Out of the movies released during Vishu - malayalam new year - this is the Number 1 hit)

"Rajini Thannae Super Hero" (Means: Rajini remains the Super Hero)

and there are many more catch words that I could see used by the theatre owners and fans associations.

Here are the wonderful snippets about the comments that I have received at Kerala:

* Many theatres were wondering whether to release the movie in Kerala, as Rajini's Baba was a failure in Kerala and they thought Vijay is the hot selling hero in Kerala. Thus, many of the prominent theatres didn't bid for CM at the beginning and unfortunately all of them regret at the end. Classic example is Aroma Mani. They released
Sachien and it ran only 1 week in Palakkad! They removed Sachien and started running Malayalam movies, but alas CM is found running houseful at other theatres!

* Please view the uploaded documents in the Files section, from the malayalam leading daily - Mathrubumi
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rajinidotcom/files/Attachment/
I have uploaded 2 documents and though it talks about CM running well in Andhra, you should try and read the 2nd document ... which says that CM is a hit in Kerala! And yeah, it also says in the paper that CM is doing better than ME or is it MX?!!

* I see lots and lots of banners of the Rajini fans in Kerala ...something that the theatre managers confirms happened only during the 90s! Some of the theatre managers like in Sri Devi Durga wondered whether the Charisma of this "old man" will ever subsides?!

* Sri Devi Durga theatre at Palakkad is one of the lousiest theatre in this area. The seats are almost torn, no A/C and the fans are almost not in working condition. Since the prominent theaters didn't bid for CM, they did it half heartedly. Most of the tamil movies are either run in this theatre or the theatres that belongs to Aroma
group. Now if you go beside the theatre, you could see that they are planning to renovate the theatre ... purely based on the collections from CM!! Finally, after many years, this theatre is found making profits, thanks to CM!

* Padayappa ran almost 40 days in some of the prominent theaters in Kerala and Baba ran only for 2 weeks. But CM, that's released on the 14th of April is still running and is making around 70 to 80% collections on every show!

* Here's the facts as to the success of CM. I have seen the Video cassets (not of bad quality) and VCD's (absolutely lousy quality) is made available in Kerala through illegal methods. But our CM still have people (especially families) watching at the theatres! Guess
what? Those who have seen the movies in video casssets and VCD's are now going to the theatre to watch it in the big screen to enjoy it more. This is purely because, they find the movie has high quality and great charms and acting by our SS.

* I saw huge cut-outs of CM in Coimbatore, Pollachi and Palani. In fact, I could see some cutouts near to the Palani Murugan temple road junction itself. This cutout is raised by the Rajini fans and they were thanking the public for making this movie a mega hit - something in line with the banners that we in Singapore put up. Since, I didn't carry my PDA phone at wherever I go, I couldn't capture these banners.

* In short, the news that I have gathered from the people whom I have met in Kerala and Tamilnadu (Pollachi, Coimbatore and Palani) is extremely positive and most of the fans are extremely happy to see not CM becoming a hit, but CM trouncing all the competitions ... be it in Taminadu or in Kerala!

That's all folks!"