Mangaluru : The year which will end on Thursday has been a glorious period for the 44-year-old Tulu film industry as 10 films were released during the year for the first time.

Tamma Lakshmana, an art director of Tulu films and a keen observer of the industry, said that of 10 films released, six were a success. The others did not reach the audience as its producers and directors did not know how to market them. Of these, three were released in November alone. With this, they failed to attract audience.

“Not only production but marketing a film matters,” he said. In all, 63 Tulu films have been released since 1971.

Mr. Lakshmana said that Brahmashree Narayana Guru released in 2014 was the 50th Tulu film. Except the four films that failed in 2015, the other films witnessed a run of a minimum 50 days to a maximum of 100 days.

Mr. Lakshmana, whose a book on Tulu films was released sometime ago, said that seven Tulu films were released during 2014. Until then, the Tulu film industry did not witness release of more than four films in a year. It was because all seven producers were new to the Tulu film industry.

It prompted other new producers to venture into film-making during 2015. Of the 10 films released this year, seven were made by new producers. Six films were directed by new directors.

Mr. Lakshmana said that more good films are in the offing during 2016. But producers should know when to release them. If they failed to market them well, their films too would fail, he said.

Tulu playwright Vijaya Kumar Kodialbail said that producers should now concentrate on films having a hard story and not just comedy.