Chennai: The corona pandemic has put to halt the entire globe. Lockdown meant no business and all restricted to their homes.
Film industry suffers the most as theatres in over 200 countries are shut and shootings came to halt.
Tamil cinema which saw a flurry of activities until middle of March is standstill now. Even release schedules have gone awry. Check out how biggies in K’town are affected by Covid-19 lockdown.
Rajinikanth
His next Annaatthe, being produced by Sun Pictures in a grand manner, was on the floors. Directed by Siruthai Siva, the makers were planning for Deepavali release. Now they have to reschedule everything.
Once the restrictions go, Annaatthe may begin with a release date in 2021. And the superstar’s political plans to reach out masses with the campaign- ‘Political Change, now or never’- too has been suspended following corona outbreak.
Kamal Haasan
Though he has been issuing statements on political front, his film commitments are in a spot of bother. His ambitious Indian 2 on the floors saw enough troubles already. Budget shot up and a mishap at shooting spot killed three persons.
A multi-starrer, it would tough to get all stars together if shooting begins again. Also the makers were planning a long time for release. Now it may be further delayed. Meanwhile there is no news on Kamal’s other project Thalaivan Irukiran.
Vijay
His Master was supposed to release 9 April. It has been postponed indefinitely. Makers are planning for Depaavali with a hope that theatres may be reopened.
A film made on huge budget, they want to to be doubly careful that audience should come to cinema halls in large numbers to make profits. With social distancing and fear of corona still looming large, makers of Master are perplexed.
Ajith
His Valimai is half-complete. Directed by H Vinoth, it is bankrolled by Boney Kapoor. Initially they were planning to release the film for Deepavali.
But now all plans are altered. Clueless when to resume shoot as the corona situation is getting worse globally day by day, Valimai team is waiting with bated breath for everything to get normal.
Suriya
His big movie Soorari Pottru was all set for this summer release. But corona has altered all plans. Like Master, the makers of Soorarai Pottru too are sitting on the fence waiting for things to get ease. They need a grand release to ensure they recover money invested in the project.
Uncertainty over re-opening of theatres in near future, decision by a section of theatre owners not to screen any Suriya movies in cinema halls for his decision to sell his production venture Ponmagal Vandhal, starring his wife Jyothika, on OTT platform need to be noted here. Suriya was supposed to start his next with Hari titled Aruva in April.
Vijay Sethupathi
He had half- a-dozen movies as hero in various stages of production. Now all are in halt mode. There are talks that producers may also want him to reduce his salary following tough economic situation in Tamil cinema. How he would give his dates for the movies if shoot begins needs to be seen.
Dhanush
His Jagamae Thandhiram by Karthik Subbaraj was ready for release this May. It is now postponed. His other projects halted due to corona fears are Karnan and a Hindi film with Akshay Kumar. Known to complete at least four movies in a year, Dhanush is waiting for these troubled times to end.
Simbu
After a huge drama, he finally began his political movie Maanadu, directed by Venkat Prabhu. Now there is no shoot and makers are reportedly worried about getting Simbu’s callsheet again in case of things improving in the next couple of months.
Among other biggies that are affected due to Covid-19 are Vikram’s Cobra, Sivakarthikeyan starrer Doctor, Sultan featuring Karthi and Jayam Ravi’s Bhoomi