Comprising Chennai’s suburbs and the districts of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur, Chengalpet generates one-third of the total box-office gross of a Tamil film. Five of the top 10 collecting theatres in Tamil Nadu, including multiplexes, are situated here. The record for the the highest footfalls during a weekday in India is held by this region. Chengalpet has always been the citadel for star-driven Tamil films even though films of other languages—notably English, Telugu and Hindi—have lately made deep inroads into this area. Apart from being an industrial hub, Chengalpet is also an IT hub and comprises the maximum number of educational institutes.
Perhaps it is this eclectic mix that’s causing a film like Pawan Kalyan’s Sardaar Gabbar Singh to release in a record 40-plus screens on April 8, >Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan to release in at least 20 screens on April 15, and the biggest of them all, Vijay’s Theri , in a whopping 100 screens on April 14.
Till early 2000s, Chengalpet, which had a large number of single screens, was known for its cash-and-carry business. Almost 80 per cent of star-driven films were on Minimum Guarantee (MG) terms, as there existed a lot of competition between the screens. Many of these screens cut deals withlocal government bodies that looked the other way as the theatres brazenly screened multiple shows with no cap on ticket prices. The now-famous early morning shows(between 3 to 5 am)/the first-day-first-show screening for fans was started in this area. These developments encouraged a lot of people with powerful connections to get into the trade, with hopes of making easy money through MGs from theatres.
But of course, the MG bubble burst with the multiplex boom in Chengalpet area, an increase in the number of Tamil releases, and the audience’s encouragement of new content. Archana Kalpathi of AGS Cinemas, one of the major players in the area, with multiplexes in Villivakkam and OMR, says, “The advent of multiplexes changed the rules, as we refused to pay MGs and strictly adhered to government-stipulated rules. Audiences today are tech-savvy and are looking at the ambience, projection, sound and comfort that screens provide at a reasonable rate. Even if the new government allows flexible pricing of tickets, I will keep the rates low, because cinema is the biggest form of entertainment for the common man.”
Udeep Bogulu, CEO of Mayajaal Multiplex on ECR, says, “From a six-screen multiplex, we have evolved into a 16-screen superplex, with 2,800 seats, and by the end of next year, we will have 24 screens. We are doing four times more business than when we started, and today, we are the highest collecting multiplex in Chengalpet area.” Udeep feels that the profile of the audiences has also changed, with a lot of craze today for films of other languages. Udeep points out, “When we started, 85 per cent of our monthly gross box-office revenue was from Tamil films; today, it is 50 per cent, with other language films collecting just as much. We play films from six other languages (Hindi, English, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Punjabi) and are also looking at languages like Bhojpuri and Bengali in future.” The lack of minimum guarantee (MG) terms and the boom in the number of new releases has brought about a sea-change in film business. Today, even for a small film, there is no pre-release sale, as most screens are refusing to pay even a token advance. Says a theatre owner in Tiruttani, “Every week, I have the option of four Tamil films, and two others of other languages to choose from, and play on my terms. I may still pay a reasonable MG for a film like Vijay’s Theri , as I will be able to recover money in the opening weekend. I do this only for the prestige and branding of my theatre.”
Meanwhile, existing theatres in Chengalpet area are going for a complete overhaul, in order to keep up with increasing competition. Multiplex players are moving into Chengalpet area in a large way. PVR is all set to open a six-screen multiplex, its third in Tamil Nadu, near Chennai airport, this summer. Archana Kalpathi is hoping to reach 50 multiplex screens in Chengalpet area alone by the end of 2020, with her new standalone six-screen multiplex with 2,000 seats in Alapakkam scheduled to open in early 2017. Rakesh Gowthaman of Vettri Theatres in Chromepet also has plans to renovate his theatre in a bid to make it more attractive. The future looks strong for Chengalpet.
