Vijay Anthony starrer ‘Kodiyil Oruvan’ has proved to be the first theatrical Kollywood hit post the second wave of Covid. With ‘Thalaivii’ and ‘Laabam’ doing some decent business for Tamil Nadu theatres upon their reopening, this gave the industry the necessary push that was long overdue. Music composer turned actor Vijay Anthony‘s mass entertainer ‘Kodiyil Oruvan‘ was anyway touted to be a crowd-puller and has indeed proved to be one. The film had already grossed around 5 crores in the first three days of its release in Tamil Nadu and has only kept up the numbers in the days following the weekend, hence proving to be the first real hit to take credit as the theatre-reviver. This is especially commendable since the film managed to do the numbers despite being leaked online upon its release.
‘Kodiyil Oruvan’ saw an opening of 1.45 cr on its first day of release. Considering the pandemic situation and 50% occupancy in theatres, these numbers were a good start. The second and third day collections were even better and stood at 1.7 cr and 2 cr respectively. Unlike its contemporaries, the collections post the weekend have not dipped too much and are still worth a mention. The fourth and fifth day collections stand at 0.8 cr and 0.6 cr respectively. The film has clearly beaten the records of the other Tamil film it released with, the Arjun-Harbhajan Singh starrer, ‘Friendship’. If the film is able to attract audiences and sustain for one more week, the makers will enter the safe zone to call the venture a profitable one.
Many theatre associations have also taken to social media to express their happiness on the houseful shows (with 50% occupancy) in their theatres. Sensing this positive reception from the public, leading OTT players are now offering mega deals to the makers to grab the post-theatrical rights of the film. Produced by Dhananjayan, Kamal Bhora, Pradeep and Chendur Films, ‘Kodiyil Oruvan’ also stars Aathmika in the lead. The producers are in talks with all the major platforms and are planning to lock the post-theatrical OTT deal by next week. Following the trend these days, the film should be out in 4 weeks from the release date.