"Viswasam" is my biggest success, says producer Thyagarajan

The film industry is one in which the life of a producer is limited. But Sathya Jyothi Thyagarajan has managed to survive for 37 years. Son of legendary producer Venus Govindarajan, he has had some ups and downs before becoming one of the most successful producers in the industry. His latest success is the Ajith-starrer Viswasam.

In a conversation, he tells us about his career and the evolution of the industry over the years. Extracts:

What is the success of Viswasam?

This is the biggest success of my career. The film is a blockbuster and the credit goes to Ajith, director Siva and the whole team. He brought in about 125 to 130 crores of rupees in Tamil Nadu alone. The share of the distributors for life would be between 70 and 75 crores of rupees. It's phenomenal in every way. The content attracted the family audience and the release date was perfect; We had a wide output on nearly 600 screens, which played to our advantage.

How important is the opening of a film in the current scenario?

This is the key factor, especially when we talk about great hero movies. Viswasam had a great opening despite fierce competition, Ajith Sir is widely described as the "king of openness" and has a huge fan base.

Recently, I traveled through Tamil Nadu and watched his fans at the base.

Here is a star who has dissolved his fan clubs but still manages to have a strong grip on the mbades.

According to the trade, Viswasam revived the black and white markets today call it semi-urban and rural areas.

Who said markets B and C were dead? It is an integral part of Tamil cinema, as the concept of "family projection" is still used in small stations. Before Viswasam, another film ( Kadaikutty Singam ) was doing well in this market. I've always thought that a commercial movie should have a content aimed at women, the pivot around which the family audience articulates.

How much has the craft of cinema changed since your beginnings, with that of Kamal Haasan Moondram Pirai (1982), until today? ?

I remember having released the film Kamal Sir Moondram Pirai on 45 theaters in Tamil Nadu. On those days, we had badog copies and the film was picked up thanks to a good word of mouth and was declared hit after 50 days. The overflow began to be felt after 100 days and the film took nearly eight months to complete production in Tamil Nadu. Today, Viswasam opened on 582 screens in Tamil Nadu and will end 50 days indoors only because it is a blockbuster. Monday, February 25, the first digital channel on the platform OTT Amazon Prime Video. The cinema has changed so much! When I started, it was the only form of entertainment . Today, it is only another form of entertainment.

How did you manage to survive in this trade as long after closing even larger banners?

I tell my two sons (Arjun and Senthil), who are now in production, to be innovative and change over time. In the early 2000s, when the cinema was going through a period of boredom, we went on television and were successful. We now address the content of the Web series for an OTT major.

Do you think that Tamil cinema is becoming too superstar-oriented? The small film market is down.

Feature films have an opening, but the success of success depends solely on the content. Small films must be made on a tight budget with directors with new ideas and new actors. My banner has managed some low budget movies; Sathya Jyothi has been very successful in making some of the best low-budget films such as Nilavu ​​Pagal, Kizhakku Vasal, Idhayam, Parthiban Kanavu, Em Magan, among others . In fact, we now plan to make some small films with a budget of 4 to 5 million rand. In the meantime, we also have an agreement of two films with Dhanush. The first will be launched in March by RS Durai Senthil Kumar. The second project will be directed by Ram Kumar of Ratsasan .