Across Indian cinema, it is the release dates of Tamil films that are the most unpredictable. One can hardly see such fluctuations, or last-minute changes with alarming consistency in any other industry. Nevertheless, with just under a week left for the release of Dhanush’s much-awaited fourth directorial film, Idli Kadai, the makers announced that the film won’t hit the screens on the already announced date of April 10. Interestingly, the film was pitted against Ajith Kumar-Adhik Ravichandran’s Good Bad Ugly, and was expected to be the first-ever clash between these two superstars in over two decades.
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Idli Kadai, backed by Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films and Aakash Baskaran’s Dawn Pictures, will now hit the screens on October 1. It will be released during the festive occasion of Dussehra, and will have a potential clash with Rishab Shetty’s much-awaited pan-Indian film, Kantara: Chapter 1. With music by GV Prakash Kumar and cinematography by Kiran Koushik, Idli Kadai will be Dhanush’s second directorial to hit the screens this year after the urban romcom Nilavukku Enmel Enadi Kobam.
While sections of the audience are happy that a clash has been averted with Good Bad Ugly, some are criticising the six-month deferred release for a film that was originally supposed to hit the screens next week.
Incidentally, speculations about the change of release plans were doing the rounds for over a few weeks now, and it was also said that Dhanush’s next directorial after Idli Kadai might feature Ajith Kumar in the lead role. While there has been no official update about the latter, it is now clear that Idli Kadai has indeed bowed out of the April 10 bandwagon giving Good Bad Ugly a solo release in Tamil Nadu. However, it is a packed box-office in Malayalam cinema with films like Mammootty’s Bazoooka, Basil Joseph’s Marana Mass, and Naslen’s Alappuzha Gymkhana hitting the screens during the festive occasion of Vishu. There are releases planned in Telugu (Jack), Kannada (Agnyathavasi), and Hindi (Jaat).
Apart from Idli Kadai, Dhanush has a long lineup of films, including the Telugu-Tamil bilingual, Kubera, helmed by Sekhar Kammula, and Aanand L Rai’s Tere Ishk Mein. He has also announced projects with Amaran director Rajkumar Periasamy and Lubber Pandhu filmmaker Tamizharasan Pachamuthu.