Indian Express on last Sunday 16th came with a exclusive one full page article on South indian film industry's box office success in this year.

This story from Express finds significance - because - Indian express which gave many good news abt Sivaji contiunuously for several weeks initially - before Sivaji release - remained silent after the release and there was no positive news abt the movie after that. (A few positive news came from other state edtions after release)

We later understood that it's intention was just to create a hype about the movie and thrash it after release. But the movie stood up to expectation and became super-hit all over the globe.

Now, while Sivaji nearing 100 days this article which speaks of Sivaji's success had come in last Sunday Indian Express in full page. I have uploaded the image in the following link.

For your easiness - we have highlighted the portion which speaks about Sivaji in green. You can read that alone and skip others.

http://img.photobucket.com/ 

- Sundar

BLOW HOT, BLOW COLD

While Rajnikanth's Sivaji continues to break BO records, this year's releases prove that cinema in the South is getting more unpredictable by the day

BY AYYAPPA PRASAD

The last nine months have been full of strange ups and downs in the multi-coloured world of South Indian cinema. Take the Rajnikanth-Shankar's Sivaji for instance. As expected, it bossed the box office almost everywhere. `Mega Star' Chiranjeevi's mega film, on the other hand, bit the dust in Andhra Pradesh. While Ganesh and Vijay, two rather young recruits, are still creating shockwaves in Karnataka, veterans Mohanal and Mammootty, rated as two of India's best actors, had nothing new to offer.

Let's begin, predictably, with Sivaji - the one film common to the four southern states. No Tamil film had ever had a release in so many centres. As many as 16 screens in Chennai grossed Rs 3,45,4520 in two weeks. In Hyderabad, the film was released in 44 theatres and in the first week itself made a profit of Rs 3 crore. A record for a non Telugu film! In Kerala, the film was released in 77 screens, beating the previous record of 60 screens of Mohanlal's Chota Mumbai.

The film had a tremendous opening but lost its momentum by the second week - the Malayalee audience felt it was all style and no substance. And in Karnataka, even though the ver sions released were Tamil and Telugu, the distributor recovered his investment in 30 days.

More flash, less substance THE Malayalam film industry, which usually strikes a balance between middle-of-the-road cin ema and potboilers, has this year favoured only the latter. With just four box office successes from 40-odd releases, it's obvious that the audience has not taken lightly to films that were generously `inspi red' by Hollywood. Considering the cost of production and col lections, Vinodayathra easily leads the list of winners.

Director Satyan Anthikad made the right decision by not waver ing from the tried and tested for mula of happy family sagas. In the film, Dileep plays an MCA graduate who prefers to shirk all responsibili ties, while the heroine, Meera Jasmine, has to discontinue her studies at an engi neering college due to family pressure. A routine tale, but appealing.

While Mammootty, the superstar, delivered a hit Mayavi directed by Shafi Mammootty, the actor, was seen in only two films, Big B and Kaiyoppu. The much hyped Mission 90 Days did not go down too well with the audience. Of late, Mammootty's look is more talked about than his performances, though his fans ensure a spectacular opening for all his films. Mohanlal's Chota Mumbai, Hello and Alibhai, all three superhits, didn't do much to showcase his talent. But upcoming films like P T Kunjimohammed's Paradesi and K P Kumaran's Akashagopuram might just surprise us. While Dileep made his presence felt with Vinodayathra, Suresh Gopi, stuck in a rut after the success of Bharathchandran IPS, should thank the recent Nadiya Kolapetta Ratri for helping him out of the cops-and-robbers rut he was getting into.

As for our comedians-turned-lead actors, Kalabhavan Mani was finally seen emoting in Sarat Chandran's Namma. Srinivasan-Lal Jose's Arabikatha, with its realistic subject about migrant workers in the Gulf, also went down well with audiences. Manoj Pillai's cinematography in Kayoppu and Arabikatha came in for critical acclaim.

Among the heroines, it was easily Meera Jasmine who stole the show in Vinodayathra while Kavya, Gopika and Navya Nair were reduced to props in hero-centric films.

Of late, Tamil and Telugu movies are increasingly being dubbed into Malayalam Challenge, Happy, Arya and Hero are some of the Telugu films. Racy plots, glamorous song sequences and action-packed scenes in these dubbed films have many takers in Kerala.

Telugu dubbing rights that once sold for Rs 2 lakhs are now in the range of Rs 15 lakhs. The Tamil film Pokkiri, starring Vijay, had a 100day run in Thiruvananthapuram! Stars fall flat EVEN `mega stars' cannot ensure a smooth run at the box office. This was proved at the Andhra box office with the disastrous run of Shankar Dada Zindabad (SDZ), starring Chiranjeevi. The general belief in trade circles is that even a flop film of Chiranjeevi collects more than a hit film of the other stars. SDZ proved otherwise. Adavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule (AMAV), director Selvaraghavan's second Telugu film, depicted real characters in a joint family set-up. Seasoned with some comedy and romance, the film went down very well with both the urban and rural audiences. The onscreen chemistry between the lead pair - Venkatesh and Trisha - also worked in its favour. Evaidaithe Naakenti, the remake of Malayalam film Lion, helped turn Dr Rajasekhar's career around. Having bought the remake rights of the film, he changed its subject for the better - a topical film, Evaidaithe Naakenti raises the issue of corruption.

Following on the heels of Pokkiri's success, expectations were high for the Puri Jagannath-helmed Desamuduru. The absence of a storyline didn't hamper this film's success - an interesting screenplay, hero Allu Arjun's sinewy muscles, petite heroine Hansika Motwani, and the picturesque Kulu Manali obviously did the trick. As for the other big names in the industry, there was Director Sreenu Vaitla and actor Manchu Vishnu's Dhee, a pot-boiler with romance, action, and a brother-sister relationship. At the time of writing, Sreenu Vyatala's latest release, the Gopichand-starrer Lakshyam, is also being termed a hit.

Talent's new wave MUNGARU Male, released towards the end of 2006, changed the entire scene of Kannada cinema. Still running, the film in its 25th week collected Rs 40 crores, more than enough reason to cheer. It also saw the rise of Ganesh as a star. Another newcomer chose this year to make the veterans sit up and take note Vijay, whose Dhuniya made Rs 15 crores in 125 days. The other two films, Hudugaata and Cheluvina Chittara, starring Ganesh (remake of the Tamil film Kadhal) did fabulously too, proving that the actor's earlier film was no fluke. The result? From January to July, 90 films went on the floor, of which 55 have been released. Puneet Rajkumar's Arasu, Devraju's Sixer, Shivrajkumar's Santha and Prem's Palliki managed to recover their investment.

Holding out against this new wave is Ramesh Aravind, whose directorial ventures Satyavan Savithiri and No 73 Shanthinivasa passed the test with its comedy angle.

This has led to a stock taking about what the audiences really want. Mungaaru Male, released in Andhra Pradesh, Pune, and Mumbai, has been running to houseful shows, with its music (NRI composer Mano Murthy), cinematography (Krishna) and story - the hero proves that sacrificing for love is a better deal - making the cut. Heroine Sanjana Gandhi is already a huge hit and everybody now wants to make a film with director Yograj Bhat. Lessons learnt: freshness in script and technical values, not extravaganza, can get the Kannada youth to take a break from Tamil and Hindi films and begin watching a few in their own language.

The multiplex dilemma IN the Tamil film industry, directors are now wondering if their target is the multiplex crowd or the B&C segments. Combining both is near impossible, only accomplished by two directors so far - Shankar and Ameer. The former's Sivaji succeeded because of Rajni's reach to all classes. Ameer, on the other hand, with his debutant hero Karthi and little known Priyamani, struck a chord with both city and rural audiences. The film's sheer honesty and realism were well appreciated.

Chennai 600028, directed by Venkat Prabhu, Mozhi, directed by Radha Mohan, Unnale Unnale directed by the late Jeeva, Naan Avan Illai, directed by Selvah, and Madhavan's Arya are movies with the `multiplex' tag that did well. Chennai 600028, which dealt with local cricket, and the rivalry between two teams, clicked with the multiplex crowd despite a cast of newcomers.

Unnale Unnale, with newcomer Vinay and Sada, was an urban movie with good music by Harris Jeyaraj. Selvah's Naan Avan Illai made Jeevan, who revisited the role immortalised by Gemini Ganesan in the K Balachander's classic, the most sought after hero. While Madhavan's much-delayed Arya had no logic, his fan following kept it going in the cities. Meanwhile, Jeyam Ravi came up with a dud called Deepavali. This year witnessed the emergence of director-turnedhero C Sundar, whose Veerappu clicked in the B&C centres. A remake of the Mohanlal-starrer Spadikam, the film has resulted in Sundar signing five films; his directorial ventures are pending. Among the heroines, it is Trisha and Asin who are dominating the scene with a hit each. Nayantara, who had the maximum number of releases last year, has shifted focus to Telugu films. And Sneha, who banked on the recent Pallikoodam, was left high and dry - the film, touted to be selected for Cannes, drew a blank at the BO.

Among the most awaited films this year are Surya's Vel and Vikram's Bheema. And of course there is Kamal Hassan's Dasavatharam, in which he enacts ten roles.

With the entry of corporates like Adlabs, Pyramid Saimira and Insight Media, and with theatres converting to digital projection, filmmaking is fast changing in the South. And it looks like transparency in deals and iron-clad � schedules are here to stay.