Small on budget, big on content­– the key to success

CHENNAI: We are a little over half-way through in 2025 and Tamil cinema has seen 152 releases till date (128 films in June and 24 only in July). Small and medium-budget films like Tourist Family, Perusu, Kudumbasthan, Love Marriage, and Parandhu Po have performed well among audiences. The biggest reason is that these films are high on content and have relatable stories that struck a major chord with the audience, and films like 3BHK have demonstrated the impact of everyday stories on viewers.

"The biggest hit of 2025 is Tourist Family,” says Tirupur Subramanian, theatre owner, distributor, and former head of the Exhibitors Association. Sasi Kumar has not been at the top recently, but people care about the character more than the actor.

Director Ilango, who made Perusu and performed well both in theatre as well as OTT, shares this view. “Audiences are much smarter,” he says. “They look for strong content. Tourist Family, Perusu, Kudumbasthan, and Parandhu Po succeeded because of their stories, not just because of the star value that used to pull crowd to theatres."

He adds, "Relatability is key. People don’t always want heroic or mass films, with a larger-than-life appeal but they do want a mix of everything. There must be a balance.”

Tirupur Subramanian believes OTT platforms are the main reason theatres are struggling. “People prefer watching Tourist Family, Love Today, Dragon, and Kudumbasthan at home,” he states. “They only go to theatres for big films like Ponniyin Selvan or Baahubali."

However, producer G Dhananjayan holds a different view. He believes theatres remain strong. “It's about the experience,” he says. “If the film is worth the ticket price, people will come to the theatres. Theatres saw a good footfall for Good Bad Ugly, Dragon, and Tourist Family. All said and done, a film must be theatre-worthy."

Ilango highlights how Tentigo, the Sinhalese version of Perusu, went on to become a huge success. “People celebrated this film in Sri Lanka,” he notes. “It ran for 50 days in 60 theatres, 75 in 40, and 100 days in 14 theatres."

While small-budget films are becoming hits, they come with greater risks. “For producers, big star films feel safer,” Ilango explains. “Producers believe there are avenues to sell a big film when the names of stars are involved."

Dhananjayan adds, “Big-budget films recover 70–80 per cent through digital, satellite, and dubbing rights. Small films lack that safety. They come with 100 per cent risk." He also warns about online trolls. “If a big film fails to connect, trolls can damage it. It happened to biggies like Kanguva, Thug Life, Retro, and Kuberaa. Memes have the tendency to discourage people from going to theatres.”