EYEING MULTILINGUALS
Several Tollywood filmmakers and actors, including the likes of Mahesh Babu and Prabhas, are coming up with multilingual films as foraying into other languages helps them make greater profits
Releasing a film in multiple languages is the latest trend in Telugu cinema, with many filmmakers now releasing their films in Tamil, Hindi and other languages.
Take for instance, the recent film Ghazi, which also released in Hindi and Tamil. It not only met the expectations, but also recovered the budget. Baahubali was the trendsetter for Telugu films as it released in multiple languages and became hugely successful. One of the costliest films made in India, Baahubali, in fact, recovered its money because of its multi-language release.
“When I learnt about the script of Ghazi, I immediately told the makers that it won’t work out if it is made only in Telugu. It’s an India-Pakistan war subject with a national appeal, so we decided to make it in other languages too,” says Rana Daggubati, who acted in the movie. So they roped in Hindi actors for the film and shot both versions separately. The film became a big success and was appreciated by audience throughout India. “If a movie is successful, then more filmmakers will come out with subjects that suit all languages. My next film also has a war backdrop and it’s a Telugu-Tamil bilingual,” adds Rana.
The yet untitled Mahesh BabuMurugadoss film is also a bilingual, releasing in both Telugu and Tamil.
“While making a multi-language film, you need a big star who is also known in other industries. You also need universal content where you can make the film with extraordinary visuals. The makers need to spend their money on the visuals and the richness of the film. Your film is going to be something new when compared to the local star films,” says producer Tagore Madhu. He adds that if a producer is planning to make a high-budget film, he has to be prepared to release it in other languages too. “Otherwise the producer can’t recover the money he put on the film,” says Madhu, who is producing the high-budget action entertainer with Mahesh Babu. Rajinikanth’s upcoming film
2.0 is releasing in multiple languages and Akshay Kumar has been roped in as the villain to attract Hindi audiences. The film’s satellite rights has been sold for nearly `110 crore. Movies of tamil actors like Kamal Haasan, Suriya, Karthi and Vikram among others have also done good business in Telugu.
“Director Shankar started it all with his Gentleman. The film was a big hit in Telugu and from then onwards, all his films are being released in other languages. Interestingly, those films collected more revenues than the Telugu version,” says Madhu, adding that this multilingual filmmaking is going to be a big trend in the coming days.
The upcoming Prabhas film that is being directed by Sujeeth is also a high-budget film and the makers have roped in many Hindi actors for it.
If a producer is planning to make a highbudget film, releasing it in multiple languages is considered to be a safer option, to recover their money. This trend is soon catching up