From Sify.com (aka Moviebuzz),
Has Rajinikanth's Kuselan bombed at the box-office? The distributors of the film have approached Pyramid Saimira who marketed it for a reimbursement of their losses. The film which released on August 1 carried mixed reports from day one.
By day two of its release, in NSC area the number of shows was reduced, as it was released in too many screens. The fans did not like the film, and the family audience kept away due to vulgar comedy scene of Vadivel.
The film just did not take an opening that one associates with a Rajinikanth film. On Monday, the film crashed by more than 50 percent. At the end of the first week in multiplexes like Sathyam cinemas, it was moved from bigger screen to smaller ones, and number of shows reduced.
No Rajinikanth films in modern times have taken such a poor opening. The trade blames Rajinikanth, director P.Vasu and producers K.Balachandar, G.P Vijayakumar, and Aswini Dutt for this fiasco.
Vasu diluted the essential spirit of the original (Katha Parayumbol) by introducing scenes and characters which were not there in the original.
The producer's piggy- back rode on Rajinikanth's larger than life image and sold it to Pyramid Saimira for Rs 60 crore, when they knew very well that he was only doing a special appearance.
Why did Rajinikanth after initially saying that he is there for only 25 percent of the film agree to keep a studious silence when the film was sold to PS as a full fledged superstar film like a Sivaji or Chandramukhi?
It lends credence to the story in the trade that he became greedy when he saw big money being traded on his name.
Anyway, coming back to the basic facts touted by the industry on why Kuselan was not appreciated by neither his fans, the youth nor his traditional family audiences.
* First and foremost Rajinikanth is a prisoner of his larger than life image. He cannot make a film run without his usual gimmicks- Punchline, clean comedy, subtle romance, sentiments and above all he needs a villain to fight him. These elements were missing in Kuselan
* The trade believes that the producers should not have gone against the industry sentiments of releasing the film during 'Aadi' month of August. Remember quite a few Rajinikanth films released in the month of August like the most famous of them Baba had bombed in the past!
* S.P Balasubramaniyam used to sing the superstar's introduction song which has a message that goes with his image. Who can forget SPB- Rajini magic songs, En Peru Padayappa… (Padayappa),Oruvan Oruvaan …(Muthu) , Bellellakka, Bellellakka… (Sivaji), Devuda, Devuda… (Chandramukhi)? In Kuselan the Cinema, Cinema… introductory number was sung by Shankar Mahadevan. Last time when he sung for Rajini Dippu, Dippu… in Baba, everybody knows what happened!
* The superstar does not require the glamour of Nayanthara and the crass and crude comedy of Vadivel to sell his films. The big mistake the director made was to include these scenes in the film.
* Finally, the industry believes that stories of cinema within cinema have never clicked in Kollywood.
The Moral of the story- Never tamper with an original script that has worked wonders in another south Indian language. And the superstar should only do one film in two years, where he is there throughout from the opening scene to the end titles!
From Rediff.com
Rajnikanth's Kuselan, which released on August 1, got a lukewarm response, to put it politely.
The crowds may be present but not in numbers that you would expect from a Rajnikanth [Images] film. Die-hard fans and Rajni loyalists have not let down their hero but people have not come in droves either.
A representative from Pyriamid Saimira, which distributed Kuselan [Images], admits that the film has not broken even yet. But they are optimistic that it will pick up. "The Malayalam movie, on which this is based, picked up only in the third week. We hope it happens here too," he said.
He added that the film was doing steady business during the week and good business during the weekends. "But it is not as big a hit as Sivaji: The Boss." It is doing reasonable well in the cities but badly in the rural areas.
The film is 'doing okay' in the United States and Malaysia, where Pyramid released the movie directly. Since they have sold the movie rights to the other parts of the world, they could not tell us how it's faring in other places.
"The fans have come. But to make it a hit, the families have to come. We hope that it will pick up in the next week," the representative said.
Add in Priyadarshan's panning against Kuselan for being a crass and superstar version of katha parayumbol. Also reported here by Sify.
From Times of India
Times of India on Kusu's failure
Is Rajinikanth’s P Vasu directed Kuselan turning out to be a damp squib at the box-office?
Once again the month of August, the dreaded Aadi period, is proving to be inauspicious for superstar Rajinikanth. In August 2002, he released his home production Baba, which bombed badly. Now six years later, he has done Kuselan for his guru K Balachandar’s Kavithalaaya in association with GP Vijayakumar’s Seven Arts.
The film, which released on August 1, with all hype and hoopla has taken only a lukewarm opening worldwide. On day-two of its release, tickets were available in almost all theatres across Tamil Nadu and carried mixed reports. On Monday the fourth day, there was a huge drop of 50 percent in collections, something which did not happen to even Baba!
In Chennai and its suburbs, the film opened in too many screens and suffered, as you could walk in and buy tickets for any show, even at prestigious Sathyam Cinemas, Inox and Mayajaal. And by the end of the first week, the film was shifted to smaller screens in multiplexes and number of shows reduced across the state. And in the US where Rajini is king, on day two of its release, ticket rates were slashed from $15 to $10. It was something that has never happened to the emperor of opening — Rajinikanth. The panic buttons have been pressed by the films distributors and theatre owners who had paid very high Minimum Guarantee (MG), and are now demanding a 50 percent pay back from Pyramid Saimira, who marketed the film.
The distributors and theatre owners are blaming Rajinikanth and the producers for this fiasco. On conditions of anonymity, a leading financier and distributor who has distributed many Rajinikanth films said: “The basic trouble with Kuselan is that it is not a typical larger- than-life Rajinikanth film, like a Sivaji or a Chandramukhi. The fans felt cheated and there were no repeat audiences for the film, making the opening weak. All of us in the trade were taken for a ride.”
Saimira or Rajinikanth will compensate the distributors and theatres their losses. There is precedence as the superstar had compensated the trade after the Baba debacle, as he was the producer of the film.
When contacted Pyramid Saimira’s chairman and managing director PS Saminathan said, “As of now, Kuselan is a hit. The fate of a film how big it is can be known only after 10 days of its release. The film has collected Rs 20 crore at the box-office till now. It’s too early to tell, but we expect it to make decent profits.” He pooh poohed observations of the film being a flop. Saminathan concluded by saying: “Kuselan is not an action-oriented film. The film has no villain, no styles that are usually associated with Superstar Rajinikanth. This film focuses on family viewing and I think it will work
Kumudam (Aug 13, 2008) - Letter To Rajni By Gnani
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Kungumam(Aug 14, 2008) - Director Seeman Questions Rajni
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Nakkheeran(Aug 06, 2008) - Rajni Apologized Is Right?
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Junior Vikatan (Aug 10, 2008) Rajni You are acting WELL
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Real Moral of the Story: Rajnikanth can't act for nuts thanks to his stupid fanbase. They will always take him for a joyride and he will never know the means of acting every again. May this Kuselan continue with him for the rest of his movie career. I hope Shankar's Robot is the biggest flop in the history of tamil cinema next to this and Baba. Nanna Vernum! Can't fool the audiences anymore huh Mental kanth?
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