“I felt the editing was very poor and even the storytelling wasn’t engaging. The message it wants to convey is laudable. The film reminds us of the diversity in our culture, but all this has to be told in a visual language that attracts the audience,” said Lakshmanan. He, too, agreed with Tiruppur Subramaniam’s view that the film wasn’t promoted enough. “There were only about 20 people in the theatre when I watched the film in Chennai. That’s shocking for a Rajinikanth film, even if he’s only appearing in a cameo,” he added.
Waiting for a “Pakka Rajni” Film
Lal Salaam was supposed to be released in the Hindi region on February 9, the same date as the Tamil and Telugu releases. But, neither the Hindi nor the Tamil versions were released in the north territory. No official reason has been given by the producers. This, too, has impacted its box office collections.
In the Telugu states, the film has been a washout. Nandi award winning film critic and journalist Rentala Jayadeva said that ‘Rajini mania’ has been waning in the Telugu states for the past several years. “His popularity in Telugu began with Baasha. It increased manifold with Muthu (1995), Padayappa (1999) and later films like Sivaji (2007) and Robot (2010). He acted in straight Telugu films, too, but it was always the dubbed films that had a market,” said Jayadeva. The film critic noted that after Robot, it was only Kabali that captured the interest of the Telugu audience and that later films like Kaala, Petta (2019) or Annaatthe (2021) did not match the hype that was generated by Kabali.
“Surprisingly, the stylish action film Jailer, which came close on the heels of Kamal Haasan’s Vikram (2022), was lapped up by the Telugu audience. The opening was slow but it became a big hit because of the strong content,” he said. Lal Salaam, though, does not seem to have appealed to the Telugu audience. “It’s an old theme and the production values aren’t great either. Rajinikanth appearing in an extended cameo is an outdated attempt to create more business,” said Jayadeva. “Not a single press meet or promotion was held in the Telugu states.”