Going gets tough for Kollywood...

Looks like the Kollywood magic is fading in T-Town. This has been a year of BO letdowns for Tamil films dubbed in Telugu.
After Mallana (Vikram), Pista (Vishal) and Eenadu (Kamal Haasan) which didn���������������������������t stir the box-office as expected, the latest Kollywood offering which is tottering is the Suriya-Nayanthara starrer Ghatikudu. While Suriya had told Hyderabad Times that the ���������������������������racy entertainer was meant for all age groups��������������������������� things haven���������������������������t really worked for the film so far.
Ironically, all the Tamil stars had promoted their Telugu films in a big way, ensuring that there was enough hype before the film actually hit the screens. But the publicity overdrive hasn���������������������������t translated into big bucks. Actor Vikram had been confident that his salability was ���������������������������intact��������������������������� in T-town, while Kamal Haasan said he was ���������������������������delighted��������������������������� to make a ���������������������������comeback��������������������������� to Tollywood with a meaningful film. Except for a promising initial collection, the films haven���������������������������t been able to post profits.
In 2008 Kathanayakudu which had hit the theatres couldn���������������������������t recover its costs (it had also been sold at an astronomical price which made things tougher for the makers), followed by Salute which didn���������������������������t do well either. The magnum opus Dasavatharam however, broke the jinx and garnered good collections at the ticket window. Earlier Suriya had to contend with a flop in Telugu with Surya S/o Krishnan. ���������������������������The Tamil version was one of the biggest hits in my career, but the Telugu version wasn���������������������������t promoted well,��������������������������� defends Suriya.
By the looks of it Telugu movie buffs seem to have selectively patronised star-centric Tamil films in the last few years, only if the theme/treatment has been different from run-of-the-mill fare. That���������������������������s why Tamil films like Ghajini, Aparichithudu and Chandramukhi have worked wonders.
���������������������������Of late, Tamil films dubbed in Telugu have smart production values, have all the gloss but lack substance. The audience will relate only to a rock solid script,��������������������������� feels filmmaker Neelakanta. Looks like Kollywood stars can���������������������������t afford to take the Telugu audience for granted and should try harder to woo film-buffs here.