After recently asserting that his upcoming film Velpari has the potential to achieve worldwide recognition comparable to Hollywood mega-hits like Avatar and Game of Thrones, veteran filmmaker S Shankar has become the target of online trolling and criticism.
The director of Enthiran stated, "Enthiran was my previous dream project," during a recent public event. Velpari is now my ideal movie. Like Avatar and Game of Thrones, it has the potential to introduce new technologies. Velpari has the potential to become Tamil and Indian cinema's pride. I'm hoping this dream comes true.
Despite Shankar's lofty goals for Velpari, social media has been overwhelmingly negative. Many internet users questioned his grandiose claims, citing the lacklustre reception of his most recent films, Game Changer and Indian 2.
Despite having a staggering budget of Rs 400 crore and starring Ram Charan, Game Changer only made about Rs 186 crore worldwide.
Reportedly produced on a Rs 250 crore budget, Indian 2, the follow-up to Kamal Haasan's seminal 1996 film, brought in about Rs 150 crore worldwide.
Producers and distributors lost a lot of money on both projects, which were deemed box office failures.
Past interview footage of Dil Raju, the producer of Game Changer, and other crew members reappeared online, adding gasoline to the fire. Despite the enormous budgets, many of them publicly chastised Shankar for what they called "unprofessionalism" and a failure to produce a high-quality product.
Social media users didn't hold back once Shankar's Velpari remarks started going viral online. An example of the scathing criticism he received is as follows:
"After this movie, the producer will have to beg... Who buys a song for Rs 75 crore? #Shankar ought to quit producing expensive films that endanger producers. His most recent films were a complete failure.
"RETIREMENT." He is now more comfortable with technology. He should finance and distribute his own films if he still wishes to do so.
"A further disaster loading of Rs 500 crore…"
He disregards the narrative because he is fixated on aesthetic grandeur. He must use smaller films to win back the audience's trust.
Shankar was also chastised by some users for failing to accept responsibility or publicly admit the shortcomings of his most recent films.
Uncertainty. To introduce new visual technologies to Indian cinema, Shankar had announced that Velpari would be an adaptation of a historical Tamil novel. But given his recent box office performance, many are now doubting whether any producer will take the chance of supporting the ambitious project.
It's unclear if Shankar's dream will succeed like Avatar or fail due to expectations, as Velpari is still in development. There is no doubt that viewers are paying close attention—and with great scepticism.
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