Vignesh Shivan's recent directorial Love Insurance Kompany (LIK), starring Pradeep Ranganathan and Krithi Shetty in the lead, recently premiered on OTT after completing its theatrical run. Post its streaming debut, the filmmaker penned a note of gratitude to audiences for their support to his sci-fi romantic entertainer. In his lengthy note, he shared his sadness on the film not being able to achieve the Rs 100 crore mark, but underlined that he was nevertheless proud of his film.
Vignesh Shivan wrote, "I came with a dream… Not small… not safe… A storm of belief that this story would echo in crores and shake the walls of cinema."
He continued, "I imagined applause… I saw it in the theatres. I manifested laughter - I heard it in the theatres. But still the benchmark of 100 crores wasn’t touched ! I was imagining double of that to be honest. But still somewhere, something doesn’t tally! Something didn’t land!"
For the unversed, LIK which opened with much-anticipation, earned Rs 10 crore on its opening day worldwide, which came down to over just Rs 1 crore (in India) after its fifth day in theatres. While the film generated strong interest among fans and family audiences, it failed to sustain the momentum that other Pradeep Ranganthan films created after receiving mixed reviews. The film ended its theatrical run with Rs 66 crore in collections after 25 days.
He admitted that he was feeling sad with the box office collections."But I am happy and content because as I have mentioned earlier this movie releasing itself is a blockbuster for me!," he noted.
He went on to say that he had expected his phone to ring multiples times, to receive appreciation from voices he had admired and from minds he respected. "But reality…It chose a different voice. Mixed words…Measured smiles…Questions louder than praise. And yet—Here I stand. Not broken. Not shaken, But proud… deeply proud. Because behind this film were battles no one saw. Sleepless nights. Silent fears. And a thousand hurdles only I could feel. Only God knows what it took to reach here," he wrote.
While Vignesh Shivan acknowledged that the Rs 70 crore revenue was not the "biggest" or the "loudest", he noted that the love received for the film was "real". "So my gratitude… is endless. Thank you for the lovely messages! Your long DMs … detailed appreciation and critics too ! Am learning … will keep learning!," he concluded his note.
Set in 2040, LIK revolves around Suriyan's (SJ Suryah) eponymous app that monitors the love lives of couples and helps them insure their relationships. When his new app feature 'love score' hints at a failure in his relationship with Dheema (Krithi Shetty), Pradeep Ranganathan's Vibe Vassey is determined to prove it wrong and thwart the plans of Suriyan.
Besides Pradeep, Krithi Shetty, and SJ Suryah also star in lead roles in LIK. Gouri Kishan, Yogi Babu, Seeman, Shah Ra, Malavika, Mysskin, Anandaraj and Sunil Reddy, among others play supporting roles.
