Going once, Going twice...

Auctioning film memorabilia — props, costumes, vintage posters — and raising funds for a cause, so far a Hollywood staple, is now catching on in K’town as well.

The big news is that the famous shocking pink-coloured car in Siddharth’s recent hit Jil Jung Juk was put under auction, and it was sold for a large sum.

Apparently, the story of JJJ, sans heroine, revolves around the pink vintage ambassador car and hence it was almost a character in the movie. Those who watched the movie were fascinated with the car and took a liking to it!
When we contacted Milind, the executive producer of JJJ, he said, “The entire team of JJJ took off to an overseas locale to celebrate the success of the film.

Yes, there were many offers for the pink car — a vintage 1989 Ambassador car which we modified to suit the script.” He adds, “After the shoot was over, it was lying in the production house compound and got damaged when the floods hit, so we decided to sell it. A person from Chennai who wanted it as memorabilia offered a good price and we gave it to him. Of course, we are going to utilise the money for a cause.”  

However, auctioning off filmi assets is not new to Tamil cinema. Earlier, the costumes and accessories used by Rajinikanth, Jyothika and Nayanthara from the record-breaking flick Chandramukhi were put up for auction. Its makers Sivaji Films sold about 25 different items through online auction.

“We used it to fundraise for the AWWA (Army Wives Welfare Association) and the Rotary Educational Charity for adopting a Government school,” producer Ramkumar had said then.

Producer and film analyst Dhananjeyan opines that auctioning will work only with big stars — “The trend started as early as the 1980s, when Rajini sir’s film Johnny hit the marquee. Rajini sir appeared in a stylish avatar with trendy costumes and a pair of glasses, which became a rage. Later they were given away to his fans.

Unless it is a big star, there’s no recall value for anything from the film. Or, the content should be strong enough that people want to associate with the film, like in the case of Robot”.

One may recall the online auction of costumes and other properties used by superstars Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai from the film Enthiran. The designer costumes worn by the two leads in the popular number Kilimanjaro and Kadhal Anukkal and a few other voguish things were sold. Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandes is also someone who auctioned her outfits on an online portal to raise funds for a cause.

And here’s something unusual — Suriya’s four-legged co-star in 7am Arivu, a beautiful horse, was put up for auction at a market town near Erode, post-shoot!

This decision was taken since the crew wanted it to have a safe haven. It fetched them a gratifying Rs 5 lakhs, surpassing other livestock auctions from past films.