Lucking Out

[Pic Courtesy ChennaiOnline]

I saw Ullam Ketkume yesterday and realized that the phrase 'lucking out' would apply perfectly to its director Jeeva.

Consider these facts... It didn't seem like the movie would ever see the light of day with all the financial hassles, salary disputes, etc. Its audio was released more than a year ago and though good, it didn't create much of a ripple. The movie's hero was Shaam, who had never delivered a bonafide hit and was seeing his stock go down further with every new movie. Its heroine was Laila, who had a few hits like Dhill and Dheena when she signed up for the movie but had pretty much disappeared from the movie scene after Pithaamagan. And the other cast members were all debutants.

But turns out the three new faces in the film are Arya, Asin and Pooja, none of whom are exactly unknown right now. Arya is hot property after Arindhum Ariyaamalum. Asin is the current toast of Kollywood this side of Trisha and can boast of movies with Vijay, Ajith, Surya and Vikram at the same time. And Pooja is a real cutie as seen in movies like Jay Jay, Attagaasam and Jithan. I'm sure the three of them attracted enough of a crowd to the theatres initially, which helped get the all-important word-of-mouth going. Jeeva sure lucked out!

PS: I noticed that the movie was produced by GV Films. So was it produced by GV? If yes, was the delay in its release play any part in his tragic suicide? Would its early release have helped avoid the tragedy? Guess we'll never know :-(