Vignesh Shivan blames 'negative reviews' for 'Love Insurance Kompany' failure
What's the story
Filmmaker Vignesh Shivan is currently grappling with the disappointing box office performance of his latest directorial venture, Love Insurance Kompany (LIK). After a lukewarm response in theaters, the film fared somewhat better on Amazon Prime Video. In a recent Instagram Story, Shivan revealed that many viewers admitted to skipping LIK in theaters because of "overwhelming negativity online."
Director's stance
Shivan's note on negative reviews
Shivan expressed his disappointment over the discouraging reviews that LIK received online. He believes that such criticism can discourage audiences from giving a film a fair chance at the box office. In his note, he wrote, "Some films survive negative reviews; others don't." "Reviews written to showcase intelligence or superiority often do more than critique a film...they can discourage audiences from giving it a chance and crush the dreams of ambitious filmmakers."
Director's dilemma
Shivan is still struggling with film's underwhelming performance
Shivan admitted that he is still struggling to process the film's box office outcome. "I still haven't fully come to terms with LIK's box-office result." "What hurts most is how quickly the narrative shifted after a promising opening weekend. I genuinely feel that an earnest Tamil film that tried to be different, complete, and original deserved a little more generosity from the audience."
Director's insight
The film was released in theaters on April 10
In his note, Shivan also shared a piece of advice he received from a celebrated director: "The success of a film is often determined more by what surrounds it than by what exists within it." The film was released in theaters on April 10 and arrived on Amazon Prime Video on May 6.
Box office struggle
'LIK's box office failure and OTT success
Despite being made on a massive budget of around ₹190 crore, LIK reportedly only collected ₹66 crore at the box office. It starred Pradeep Ranganathan, SJ Suryah, and Krithi Shetty in lead roles, and Seeman, Yogi Babu, Gouri Kishan, Shah Ra, Malavika, Anandaraj, and Sunil Reddy in supporting roles. It received mixed to positive reviews after its OTT premiere.