Chiyan Vikram starrer Thangalaan released back in 15th August. Then it was only released in Southern regional languages and not in Hindi. The film made a huge opening and soon went on to enter the 100 crores club. All this without being released in Hindi. The makers initially announced the Hindi dub for the movie to be released on 30th August, but the date was further postponed to 6th of September. The movie was released in the north in Hindi and though it received much positive feedback, it has been unable to make an impact.
The film was originally launched on 15th August. Soon after its release, Stree 2 (which was released on the same day) took flight and became one of the highest grossing movies of the year. Thangalaan, though did a good business in the southern regions among Tamil speaking audiences, it still lacked far behind Street 2. The film however crossed its budget turning a hit, but not launching the movie in Hindi made a big impact on its nationwide and overseas reception. Soon the buzz around the film (that was there in the initial days of its release) was gone and the film was hardly being discussed.
The film was originally planned to be released in Hindi dub on 30th August and the date was postponed. At that time, India had no big releases for the week. GOAT was to be released on 5th September, Tumbbad also was stalled to 13th September and Emergency was delayed to uncertainty. The film hence had very less competition for at least one week and could have easily received a good response from the north. But the strategy to postpone the film took away a lot of business potential for the movie from the North.
The film was released today when the GOAT fever is already on the rise. Although GOAT has only been (properly) released in Tamil and Telugu, and the Hindi dub of the movie is only available in smaller theatres and not in the nationwide chains, still it laid a significant impact to the reception of Thangalaan. Also, in a week we will witness the release of multiple big films. The Buckingham Murders, Tumbbad (for which people are waiting eagerly) and Hellboy sequel. These are all movies that are sure to take away Thangalaan’s reception in the North.
Thangalaan could have done much better in the North compared to the current scenario. It is in a state where it stands behind GOAT, though the later is only available in Hindi dub in small theatres. Stalling the film for a long period changed the course for the makers of Thangalaan.