Mohanlal with Antony Prembavoor and a still from 'Kabali'Thiruvananthapuram: Aashirvad Cinemas, run by Antony Prembavoor, a confidant of superstar Mohanlal, is betting big on Rajinikanth’s upcoming blockbuster release Kabali, by bagging its distribution rights in Kerala.
Aashirvad Cinemas, along with Suresh Balaji, Mohanlal's brother in law and son of late K. Balaji, recently inked the deal to bag the Kerala territory rights of Kabali, for a whopping Rs 8 crore.
The deal was clinched for Aashirvad Cinemas by invoking the Balaji connection with Kalaippuli S. Thanu, the producer of the much-awaited Rajini starrer.
Also read: 'Kabali' teaser review: Rajinikanth on fire in #NeruppuDateaser | Video
To Kalaippuli S. Thanu goes the credit of embedding the ‘superstar’ tag on Rajini years back.
But for Aashirvad, it is not just about bagging the rights. The group is betting big on Kabali by unleashing it in 250 plus screens across the state. This itself would set a record, beating the 200-plus screen release of Mohanlal-Vijay starrer Jilla in 2014.
Aashirvad is aiming to rake in Rs 2.5 crore on Day 1 itself as distributor share. This means the projected gross collection on the first day itself would be n the range of Rs 7.5 crore to Rs 8 Crore.
Aashirvad is planning as many as 8 shows in some screens, while it may also provide short-term screening for 3-4 days to some rural areas, a comparatively new concept in Mollywood industry.
In Thiruvananthapuram city itself, Aashirvad would unleash Kabali in eight screens including a swanky multiplex.
In bagging Kabali’s rights, Aashirvad has other ideas also.
From left: Antony Perumbavoor, Suresh Balaji and Kalaippuli S ThanuAashirvad’s new multiplex coming up in Thodupuzha would most certainly have Kabali as its inaugural movie. The Thodupuzha multiplex would have four screens with a seating capacity of 600, 400, 200 and 100 seats, respectively.
The Kabali deal was clinched mainly due to the connections the Balaji family has with Tamil film industry as well as with Thanu and Rajni himself.
Also check: 'Kabali' music review: Santhosh Narayanan da!
“Aashirvad is also aiming to cash in on the so-called goodwill ads that appear online and in TV, which would amount to roughly Rs 5 crore worth free ads,” says Yesudas Williams, an industry observer.
Aashirvad had bagged Kabali’s rights by edging out almost eight high profile contenders, sources said.
That would be a big boost to its ambitious plans for the year, which would include the release of Mohanlal-Priyadarshan team's Oppam and two Telugu movies, one of which would have the superstar sharing screen with NTR Junior.
Mohanlal is currently in the sets of a Telugu movie in Hyderabad. Industry sources said Mohanlal camp had decided recently to cut down the number of movies and concentrate on own productions as well as some other language movies.
Lal had given 200 days’ call sheet for Pulimurugan and another 60 for a Telugu movie.
Incidentally Lal's own multiplex would come up in more than an acre in Haripad for which a plot has been identified. The aim is to cater to the tony travellers in Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram route by projecting it as a swanky stopover with a multiplex and food court, which would offer Lal’s favourite cuisine.
