2005 Box Office

Sify has come out with the final box-office tally for 2005. No surprises on the first four entries in the list. We know that Chandramukhi has been breaking BO records and the fact it is the biggest hit in Tamil cinema history made sure there was no suspense about the top spot on the list of 2005's moneyspinners. The fact that Anniyan and Ghajini were superhits was no surprise either and with reports (and claims from both Vijay and Perarasu) that Tiruppaachi was an even bigger hit than Gilli, its place on the list was a given.

But the fifth entry came as a surprise to me. Was Arindhum Ariyaamalum really that big a hit? I knew the movie got good reviews and was a hit but its superhit tag comes as a surprise. So it was a bigger hit than movies like Raam, Kanaa Kanden and Ullam Ketkume?

When I saw AA, I liked it but didn't exactly see it as becoming a commercial hit. It had a regular start that laid the foundation for a common-man-against-dada story but followed it up with a nice twist that made the second half very unexpected in both plot and tone. I liked the surprise and the new direction the story took but I thought the change in tone(to comedy) after setting the viewers up for action would disappoint viewers. I guess it didn't! And Yuvan's chartbusting music couldn't have hurt.

The director, Vishnuvardhan, was the same guy behind the irritating Kurumbu and AA was a big step up for him. I read somewhere a little while back that he would be directing Vikram next. But he has recently started Pattiyal with Arya, Bharath, Pooja and Padmapriya. Not surprisingly, Yuvan will be scoring the music again. I said in my AA review, "if he follows this trajectory, his next film will be something to look forward to". So I guess I'll be looking forward to Pattiyal :-)