Rajnikant Doesn’t Deliver This Time

South Indian superstar Rajnikanth’s much-hyped film Sivaji alias The Boss has failed to live up to expectations, as most of the distributors who bought its rights claim that the film was a loss-making venture.

The film directed by “mega budget” director Shankar was released in hundreds of theatres across Tamil Nadu, with wide publicity and great expectations among Rajni’s fans and the public. It was said the film was sold at a record rate since it was considered to be a box-office bonanza.

But of the nine areas of distribution in the state, distributors of three areas, including Salem ~ known for its passion for cinema ~ had complained they lost more than Rs 1 crore each, since the film did not collect as much money as expected.

One of the distributors, on condition of anonymity, said: “We bought the film’s rights at a high rate, since the film was expected to be a smashing success. But before the completion of 100 days, many theatres were partially
empty.”

Asked whether Sivaji was a “flop”, he said such a conclusion would not be right because the film had collected several crores of rupees. But the distributors ended up losing their money, since the investment, including publicity cost, was high. The producer and director had earned a good profit, he said. But another, who failed in his bid to buy the film’s rights, said: “These are allpart of the film business. If the film’s collection was as high as expected, the same distributors would have pocketed several crores of rupees.” Some distributors in the southern districts denied that Rajni’s film had not fetched a profit. It might not have done well in some areas, they argued.But many distributors said they lost their money and even suggested that Rajnikanth find out the truth and compensate their losses.