Tulu Film Industry also known as Coastalwood is seeing huge growth in respect to number of films released. The first Tulu film was Enna Thangadi released in 1971. In the next 40 years, only 45 films were made, which included critically acclaimed films like Sudha, Koti Chennaya and Bangar Patler. However in 2011, the Tulu film Industry got second life with the release of the film Oriyardori Asal. After the unexpected success of Oriyardori Asal, many people from different fields came to invest in Coastalwood. From 2011 to 2015, many films were made, out of which films like Chali Polilu, Ekka Sakka, Dabak Daba Aisa and Chandi Kori did excellent business. However, the film industry is facing more problems with more number of releases.
In 2015, 9 films were released, which is a record in Coastalwood. However in these nine, only three to four have managed to break even with costs. This year in first eight months, nine films have released. And the end result is same, only Dabak Daba Aisa is said to have made money. However, Kudla Cafe was critically acclaimed and is being screened across different film festivals.
The biggest problem in Coastalwood is the genre. After the success of Oriyandori Asal, only comedy films were made. However, only few managed to make money. The same set of actors are repeated and same type of story-line is said to be the major reason for films failing.
Tulu speaking area is limited to Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district. And even in Udupi district, Tulu language is not spoken in Brahmavara, Kundapur and Byndoor. So films are released only in few theatres. Even though some films have been released in Kasaragod, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Coorg, most of the films have not been released there. In overseas, there is a huge population of Tulu speaking people. They can be tapped with good release abroad. Dhand has been one of the most successful Tulu films overseas.
One of the biggest problem which Coastalwood is facing is shortage of theatres. A Tulu film can at a time release in 13 theatres, which includes four multiplexes. They have to face huge competition from Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. In multiplexes, shows are hardly alloted for Tulu films.
Another biggest drawback is marketing. We hardly see Tulu films being marketed. The star cast come on local channels and radio stations to promote on the day of the release. Some articles come in newspapers and that’s it. No innovative technique is being used. Yes, some films have used LED screens for promotion, but most of the time, people do not know when the film is releasing.
Social media should be used to maximum effect. Today almost all youngsters are in social media. Trailers and songs of the films should be promoted in using social media. After release, the star cast should make it a point to visit theatres and public spaces and interact with the public. This will surely help the film. Print media, video media, web media and audio media should be used to promote films in an aggressive way.
Today, a film is a product. The product is made and revenue is expected from theatrical and non-theatrical sources. Theatrical sources are domestic and non-domestic box office collections. Non-theatrical sources include satellite rights, film branding, music rights, home video rights and internet rights. Most of the films in Hindi recover their whole investment with non-theatrical rights.
Tulu films should tap these sources. Audio and home video rights are being sold. However, they are sold at low prices. There has been no television premiers of Tulu films. We hardly see Tulu films making money from YouTube or on DTH. All these sources should be tapped in a proper way as this will encourage producers to invest more in films.
Tuluvas should support good Tulu films and watch them. It’s sad that film like “Kudla Cafe” did not do well commercially. It hurts when we see some average Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films doing better than good Kannada and Tulu films in Mangaluru. We should stop thinking our language is inferior than others and must start encouraging good films.
