12 June 2007

Sivaji - Catch Me If you can afford !

For all Rajni Fans in the US, the wait is finally over. It will truly be a worldwide release! Sivaji in India, June 15th. Sivaji in US of A, June 15th! Whoohoo! As a die-hard Rajni fan, I rushed to all the websites offering tickets for “Thalaivar” movie. The ticket prices made me jump out of my seat with joy. I was hoping the organizers would be stupid enough to raise the regular ticket price of 8$ by only 3 or 4 dollars. No. They have restored my faith by doubling it to $16. Whoohoo! Not only that, they have had the better sense to triple it on opening day. That Serves those movie-crazy-Tamilians right. Especially the Rajni Fans who would jump off a cliff for “Thalaivar” if they have to.

Here is the Ticket Stats. It will cost you $21 per ticket on opening day in Atlanta. It would be $16 for rest of days. And I am even more thrilled that the organizers have found another venue to spread the wonderful class system based on your affordability. Here comes “VIP Tickets” for $26 and your kid sure deserves a “VIP Kids seat” for $13. I do not know if the VIP seats will be any different from “regular” seat, but the internal grapevine tells me, the VIP seat holders will be given special tissue paper to wipe their own seats, while the regulars, even if they bring their own tissues, will not be allowed to carry it inside. That’s the spirit!

I do see some of my friends whining and screaming about the atrocious prices for Sivaji and even threatening to boycott the movie. So long Suckers! I already see the first day booked fully in NJ. Who cares if you boycott? We can always count on Rajni fans to pay $26 per ticket when the cost of DVD will be only $20 when it comes out after two months. If we can’t milk an easily available, gullible, Rajnikanth fan (that’s 90% Tamil population in US), then, as businessmen, the organizers have no financial acumen. After all, in the world of fans, the Rajni Fan stands alone on top! So what if you pay $8 for a Spiderman movie that cost $300 million to make? This is a Shankar-Rajni-Rahman combo. Nothing but wind...errr...i mean…Nothing beats it!

The blame should go to the unappreciative Tamil audience in US. The folks who bring Tamil movies get burnt every time they try to show a decent movie (Paruthiveeran…hmm...can’t think of any other worthy candidate in recent times...but that’s not the point I am trying to make). While so many struggles go behind the scenes to bring a Tamil movie to US, ungrateful Tamilians don’t even bother to show up! They have the temerity to rent pirated DVD’s for $2 and worse, make copies of those pirated DVD’s and distribute to family and friends! I remember watching the movie “Kushi” where there were only 5 people in the whole wide theatre. Later, I realized I counted myself in 5 different seats. I do have the tendency to switch seats so I don’t feel haunted (and it was a time after Sixth Sense). So, I am very happy that finally the Tamil movie organizers have arrived at a moment in history where they can squeeze all those dollars that were cheated by these Tamil-movie-lovers-of-US. Perfect timing!

I say, let us raise the ticket amount to $40. After all a Rajni movie comes only once in 3years.And it doesn’t even require a story. So, it is a guaranteed success. Maybe after this, the Tamil-movie-going public in US will realize they need to patronize the hard working Tamil cinema organizers! Vazhga Tamil! Vazhga Rajni! Vazhga Sivaji thantha Koperumangal!

P.S: Are you asking what about me? Heee…Heee…I am going to wait for the original DVD and watch it in my big screen in basement. Admission to anyone who brings their own beer and doesn’t borrow mine!

12 comments:

Sandesh said...

Nice to see someone think on the same lines as me...
I too made a post on my blog and later saw that you had similar views..

Priyamvada_K said...

Rama,
Local Tamil sangam has come up with an innovative way to raise membership - Sivaji tickets are $8 for members, $15 for non-members...

Vaazhga Rajni ;-)

Priya.

RamaDrama said...

Now..that's an idea..i sure dont mind paying to tamil sangam..which tries its best to showcase the culture for the new generation of kids! Can you ask those guys to call the folks here in Atlanta ;)

Hope everything is going great at your end,Priya!

RamaDrama said...

Hi Sandesh,
Thanks for stumbling here. I agree that this time, they went overboard on the prices..but then..i dont think the audience can take a high moral ground on this issue esp. when they are downloading and watching pirated dvds. All you can do is exercise your option.

Priyamvada_K said...

Hi Rama,
Things are going well. Got my $8 ticket. Will tell you after watching whether or not to spend your $20 on the DVD.

Priya.

Priyamvada_K said...

Dear Rama,
Please save your $20 and spend it on a worthy cause..... Serious suggestion! This movie is a serious blow-up of crores and crores of money....I can't believe Shankar spent this much money on such utter $%^&. No story, no flow at all whatsoever. Its not son of the soil theme (?!). Its not a fantasy. Its not a vigilante story. Its not interesting - very puerile stuff. Words fail me.

Watch it if you're a hardcore Rajni fan. Shriya is very pretty and has a great figure. She comes in some interesting but not too revealing costumes. That's it.

I'd say donate $20 to a charity of your choice, and download Shriya stills from the internet if you wish. I wish to be paid for the 3 wasted hours...huh.

Priya.

RamaDrama said...

WHOA! Really ? That bad ?Well...am a hardcore Rajni fan but i dont think i will spend 20$..probably rent original dvd then..looks like Shankar found a star to milk the producer...Thanks for the feedback..guess Kamala is not going to join the "new legions" of Rajni fans!

Priyamvada_K said...

Rama,
Sorry if you are a hardcore Rajni fan. Some "theevira Rajni rasikars" in the movie theater seemed to enjoy the film.

The thing is: this is like very well-packaged expensive candy with 0.002 bite of candy inside. Packaging is great. But you can't eat the candy wrapper :).

Blow by blow:

Gravity-defying action sequences - yes
"Super figuru" heroine :): Yes
Vivek Comedy: Good one-liners
Lots of money spent: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$...er, LOTS
Villain: stylish
Rajni style: as usual

But the comedy involving Rajni is hodgepodge, the flow keeps getting interrupted and you forget the whole point and after a while, you don't care.

Vivek's one-liners are good. You come out bedazzled by Shriya's costumes. But the disappointment of not getting much remains.

You don't go to Rajni or Shankar movies expecting much of a story. But you expect it to flow.

Sivaji to me looked like high-tech junk. Costly sets, expensive costumes, Rajni style coin tosses, a pretty heroine plus Vivek - hmmm should've added up to a watchable movie but doesn't. Lesser budget films like Muthu, Padayappa and Chandramukhi were much better.

Priya.

RamaDrama said...

I have tolerated "Naatukku oru nallavan","Adhisayapiravi" and even "Baba". So, i guess Sivaji wrapper is a bonus compared to that...:) Anything that is hyped beyond proportion (Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, Salaam-e-ishq etc.) is bound to fall flat..but then..who expects a story/flow/tight screenplay in Rajni movies ? Thanks for the highlights..now the hope of decent story flow(since Shankar did a decent job with Mudhalvan and Indian) will not be there and i can enjoy only for "Thalaivar"!

Anonymous said...

*grin* What a fun post and love the comments. (How are you?)

RamaDrama said...

Hey Ph,
Been ages since i saw u. I am doing good..hope things are going great at your end..lemme see u in your blog..

Saw Sivaji finally yesterday (they had reduced the prices in second week to 10$).Had to contend with Rajni's lack of strong voice, horrible tamil pronounciation but there were flashes of Old Rajni and "mottai boss" sealed the deal for me...atleast it showed Rajni is trying something new even though he is not able to pull it off..i guess people will throng(including me) purely for nostalgia...

Priyamvada_K said...

Dear Rama,
You have been tagged by me.

http://priyamanaval.blogspot.com/2007/07/tagged-8-random-facts-about-me.html

Allow us a glimpse into some random facts :)

Priya.