Kannada film Blink thwarts ‘Premayugam Boys’ dominance in Karnataka theatres
Between February and March, the Malayalam film industry produced three blockbusters. The romantic comedy Premalu, the horror drama Bramayugam , and the survival drama Manjummel Boys broke records. Such was the dominance of these movies that fans online called the phenomenon ‘Premayugam Boys’, the Indian version of Hollywood’s famous ‘Barbenheimer’, involving Barbie and Oppenheimer.
In this kind of tough competitive market, scifi Kannada film from debutant Srinidhi Bengaluru —
A still from the Kannada movie Blink.
Blink — was released on March 8 alongside two big Kannada films: Karataka Damanaka and Ranganayaka.
With a timetravel concept enhanced by tight writing and fine performances, Blink emerged as the unlikely winner at the Kannada box office. Start
ing as the clear underdog with just 17 shows across Karnataka in the first week, the movie in its third week, secured 87 shows, a commendable feat for a film made by unheralded names.
Producer Ravichandra AJ, a data engineer, banked on clever promotional strategies. “We ensured at least 30 videos of the audience response were out on our different social media sites every day. We shared a form on social media, asking people to mention the city they wish to see the movie. We got around 25,000 responses. Based on the data, we emailed multiplexes, asking them to provide more shows. They responded positively,” explains Mr. Ravichandra.
“When we interacted with people outside theatres showing Blink, many said they had watched a Kannada film after 45 years. We are in danger of losing our audiences,” says Mr. Srinidhi.