Undisputedly, Maniratnam is the highly talented&Most admired director of his generation of directors in India.In a world of Indian Cinema ruled by meaningless stories with 6songs+4fights, he created a genre for him self with a blend of art&commercial cinema,thus reaching a wider range of audience.Not only the movie buffs but the common audience too can experience the magic of screenplay&rich technical values in his movies.abba..aa shot emi undhira! emi taking ra !kind of words are commonly heard in theatres for his movies.God of Wanna be directors!
Here is the new facet of this MBA Graduate from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies,Mumbai
Case study: GURU With highest paid cast&crew like Abhishek bachchan,Aishwarya Rai,AR Rahman,Vidya Balan, Mallika sherawat...some periodical sets&foreign locales.. Maniratnam produced this trilingual film with a budget of Rs.12Crores(Hey Tollywood!r u listening?),less than the budget of any Bollywood movie featuring the above stars&less than the Publicity budget for any big Bollywood production!
Here are the numbers from Mumbai/Chennai trade circles showing how smart producer he is!
Exhibition rights(Except Andhra&Tamil Nadu) Rs.17Crores(Ad Labs)
TV Broadcasting Rights Rs.5Crores(Star Tv)
Audio Rights Rs.3Crores(Sony Music)
Telugu Rights Rs.1.5Crores(Includes Hindi rights in AP)
Tamil Rights Rs.1.5Crores(Includes Hindi rights in TN)(approx.numbers from AP&TN)
Home Video unknown
Madras talkies made a cool table profit of Rs.16Crores+before release,a number no other South Indian Producer can imagine prior to release !
Trade Story:Contrary to trade pundits predictions,This critically acclaimed film is doing rocking business all over.
Guru posts an extraordinary opening overseas in America,grossing $843,200 its opening weekend from Jan 12-15,Ahead of the blockbusters Krrish ($643,000),Rang De Basanti ($701,666)& Don ($804,388 ).
In India too the movie Opened very strong in Metros,Hyderabad,Bangalore,Gujarat,West Bengal&to 40-50% response in other circles.
Not only on the weekend,On Monday too Guru collections are strong in the above mentioned circles,declaring it as a Decent hit(or a Superhit,Exact range will be known by in few more days)
Though the trade story is not that impressive in Telugu&Tamil the producers of Telugu&Tamil versions are quite happy as they bagged the rights at a reasonable price&the package also includes the Hindi rights of their areas.A Happy ending for Every one involved with the Film!Kudos to Genius Filmmaker!
IIMs&Harvards..Hello! here is some stuff for you !
As trade pundits predicted earlier,the Success is not Entirely from Overseas & Multiplex audience alone..Here is a new crowd called Urban audience,The rapidly growing section of The Most happening Economy,are the key for Guru's stupendous Success.Right movie at right time by the Master technician!
