Sri Lankan comedy “Tentigo” (locally titled “Nelum Kuluna”) has become a box office phenomenon, grossing LKR450 million ($1.5 million) to become the country’s second-highest grossing film of all time, trailing only “Gajaman’s” LKR610 million ($2 million) haul.
The irreverent Sinhala-language family comedy, which follows two sons attempting to conceal their deceased father’s persistent erection before his funeral, has sparked an unprecedented wave of international remakes across multiple territories, with confirmed projects in development for Hindi, Spanish and Italian markets.
As revealed by Variety, acclaimed filmmaker Hansal Mehta is set to direct the Hindi-language adaptation, with True Story Films and Crawling Angel Films producing. European remakes are also in the pipeline, with producers Giovanni Robbiano and Samantha Cito developing Spanish and Italian versions under their FlickTales banner, though directors have yet to be announced. Talks are also underway for Malaysian, French, Belgian, Indonesian and Vietnamese remakes, positioning “Tentigo” as a rare Sri Lankan export with genuine global commercial appeal.
The film’s local success has been nothing short of extraordinary for the Sri Lankan market. “Tentigo” achieved multiple box office records during its 111-day theatrical run, including 128,233 patrons in a single week and LKR16.7 million ($55,545) in single-day revenue – both records for Sinhala cinema. The film crossed 600 sold-out screenings within its first 30 days and logged 82 sold-out screenings in a single day.
At Colombo’s major multiplexes, “Tentigo” dominated programming with 21 daily showtimes at PVR Colombo, 17 at Scope Cinemas Havelock City Mall and 15 at Scope Cinemas Colombo City Center. The film screened at 58 cinemas for over 50 days, with 14 venues running it for more than 100 days.
Writer-director Ilango Ram, who also helmed the Tamil-language remake “Perusu,” sees the film’s success as a cultural watershed moment. “Any filmmaker would proudly use ‘a film by’ or is ‘made by’ in their films. Yet with ‘Tentigo’ (‘Nelum Kuluna’), Sri Lankans say, ‘This is our film’ and they make it their own,” Ram said. “It became a cultural moment, celebrated with the same collective pride we saw when Sri Lanka won the 1996 Cricket World Cup.”
The filmmaker compared his work’s impact to “The Graduate,” noting how it “brought Sri Lankans back to the theaters and rekindled a long-lost movie culture, revived an entire generation’s relationship with cinema.”
Producer Hiranya Perera added: “With ‘Tentigo’ (‘Nelum Kuluna’), we weren’t just making a film — we were reclaiming a voice that Sri Lankan cinema had long been denied. To see three generations walk into the theater together, laughing and connecting to the same story — that’s when we knew we had sparked something bigger.”
The film’s international appeal extends beyond remakes. “Tentigo” has screened in 21 countries and became the highest-selling Sri Lankan film on BookMyShow’s ticketing platform. In Australia alone, the film sold over 1,500 tickets within 24 hours, achieved 28 sold-out shows in a single weekend and moved over 10,000 tickets within 30 days.
“Tentigo” also claimed the distinction of being the third debut film in Sri Lankan cinema history to win an award at an A-list international festival, taking the special jury prize at Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Films like “Gajaman,” “Tentigo” and “Kadira Divyaraja” are bringing Sri Lankan audiences back to theaters after decades of decline that began following the destruction of many cinemas during the 1983 riots.
variety.com
#Sri #Lankan #Comedy #Tentigo #Sparks #Remakes #Box #Office #Success
