Thangalaan producer praises Telugu, Malayalam audiences, criticizes Tamil Nadu's cynicism

Producer KE Gnanavel Raja of Studio Green, awaiting the release of Thangalaan and Kanguva, has expressed concerns about the cynical nature of movie-going audiences in Tamil Nadu. He suggested that Tamil audiences are increasingly abandoning the communal experience of watching movies in theatres, opting instead to become self-appointed critics seeking brief internet fame at the expense of the films.

Gnanavel Raja highlighted the disparity in audience behaviour by comparing Tamil Nadu with other states. “Good reviews for films are not leading to revenue increases. Except for Love Today, none of the small-budget movies have managed to make the collection they deserve,” Gnanavel Raja told Galatta Tamil.

“Take, for example, Manjummel Boys and Premalu. If they are identified as good movies, their celebration and collection will go through the roof. But, in Tamil Nadu, it doesn't happen because we lack a joint effort here," he added.

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He emphasized the importance of promoting quality films publicly to boost their revenue. He revealed that while producers and stars congratulate a filmmaker behind closed doors and explore opportunities to work with that creator in the future, they forget to promote their current film and help to increase its theatrical revenue.

He praised the positive culture in the Malayalam and Telugu film industries, where superstars actively promote good movies. “If a movie is good, all superstars (in Malayalam and Telugu) will tweet about the movie. Kalki was good, and immediately Superstar (Rajinikanth) tweeted about it. It helped the movie in a big way in Tamil Nadu. Suriya sir tweeted about the film before its release and also tweeted about the movie after its release. This culture should spread within our industry,” he said.

Gnanavel Raja urged the members of the Tamil film fraternity to take ownership of good content and promote it enthusiastically, especially small-budget films with new actors. “We should not be under the impression that what will happen if it's just me talking about a movie. We should remember small drops turn into big waves. If we do that overall revenue will grow," he opined.

He lamented the pervasive negativity in Tamil Nadu, where audiences focus on minor flaws rather than celebrating the overall quality of a film. “In Tamil Nadu, we only spread negativity. If someone doesn't like 1 percent of the movie, he forgets the other 99 percent he enjoyed, and only talks about the part he didn't like. But, in Telugu, people will celebrate that movie. The audience has assumed that to gain popularity they must talk negatively about a film. If they keep spreading negativity about the films, it will destroy the industry. Then what will audiences enjoy in theatres? I feel, audiences are in Andhra, in our state, everyone is a reviewer,” said Gnanavel Raja.

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