This festive season will see a number of star-studded releases, especially for the Ganesh Chaturthi weekend. Guess which actor Vijay Sethupathi starrer ‘Laabam’ will face its biggest clash with? It is none other than… Sethupathi himself! The actor has not one, but two releases for the Vinayaka Chaturthi weekend, one on the 9th and one on 10th September. His first outing, ‘Laabam‘ is slated for a theatrical release on 9th September, whereas the second, ‘Tughlaq Durbar’, is scheduled to release digitally a day later.
‘Laabam’ is a political thriller starring Vijay Sethupathi with Shruti Haasan, Jagapathi Babu, Sai Dhanshika and Kalaiyarasan in pivotal roles. This is director S. P. Jananathan’s last film, being released posthumously. The makers waited it out to announce its release, once the Kangana Ranaut starrer ‘Thalaivii’ had locked its release date as the 10th of September. However, ‘Laabam’ will still receive some competition in Tamil Nadu theatres from Kangana’s film, a biopic on late actress-turned-politician Jayalalithaa, who is hailed as nothing short of a godess in the state.
Sethupathi’s ‘Tughlaq Durbar‘ on the other hand, has skipped a theatrical release and will now first have a television premiere on Sun TV, on 10th September, post which it will be available for streaming on Netflix. Helmed by debutant director Delhi Prasad Deenadayal, this fantasy comedy drama also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Manjima Mohan, and Parthiban in important roles.
When there is so much talk of clashes being averted these days, the biggest example being Telugu movies ‘Maestro’ and ‘Love Story’ making way for ‘Tuck Jagadish’, the biggest clash we will witness now is that of Sethupathi vs Sethupathi! In this digital age, OTT clashes are as damaging as those in theatres, since no film wants to lose out on the initial traction. Where even the biggest stars do not want to take a chance with the fate of their films, how did the makers of ‘Laabam’ and ‘Tughlaq Durbar’ not see this clash happening? Another important point is that clashes often lead to an increased risk of piracy. Will that not affect the business of both films?
Both Sethupathi movies are set to release a day apart from each other, one digitally and the other theatrically. Is it too much of him in two days for the viewers? Will moviegoers be forced to take a pick between two films of their favourite star? Well, it remains to be seen if both films do well irrespective of the clash, or one eats into the other’s business.
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