It’s hard to answer when someone asks, “When was the last time a Suriya movie worked in theaters?” It’s genuinely a difficult question because one has to go through his filmography and go several years back to find a hit that actually worked in theaters.
His next film ‘Retro’ has created some buzz due to its songs and the fact that it’s directed by Karthik Subbaraj, who is known for delivering fan-pleasing moments.
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But surprisingly, the makers have decided not to have US premieres for Suriya’s film, Suriya’s Retro.
This could be a result of the disastrous performance of his previous film Kanguva in both the US and Indian markets, or perhaps the makers are not confident about Retro’s content.
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Otherwise, what else explains a star like Suriya not having US premieres these days?
Also, from a Telugu audience’s point of view, director Karthik Subbaraj is considered an overrated filmmaker who delivers fan moments in parts, but fails to create a film that appeals to the audience as a whole. His movies tend to follow a certain pattern and, at best, end up being average.
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For Suriya, who is currently at a low point in terms of theatrical pull, even an average film may not be enough to bring audiences to theaters.
Moreover, there hasn’t been a single case where a film skipped US premieres, released in India, and then—based on positive word-of-mouth—picked up sales in the US from day one. This scenario has almost never happened before. At least in the Telugu film industry, there is no example of a film following this strategy and making it successful.
We’ll have to wait and see if Retro will be the first to break that trend—or if this move is simply due to the makers’ lack of confidence in the film’s content, to the point of canceling US premieres for a well-known star like Suriya.
We’ll find out when Retro releases.
