Allu eyes K’wood for stardom
The actor has agreed to do an entertainer in “principle” with director Rajesh, but is quiet about his remuneration
Chiranjeevi has done it, so has Nagarjuna. Now, it’s Allu Arjun’s turn to jump into Kollywood. The Tollywood star’s debut Tamil venture will be a big-ticket film with director Rajesh of Oru Kal Oru Kannadi fame. The director, who made the Tamil comic caper with Udhayanidhi Stalin and Hansika, has watched Allu Arjun’s Arya 2 and Badrinath and has penned a script that would suit his high energy levels.
The actor has read the script and agreed “in principle” to do the film. “Yes, I am going to make my debut in K-town soon,” said Allu Arjun. However, he is tied up with two Telugu films with Puri Jagannath and Surender Reddy and Julayi, which will hit the screens soon, so he will have to juggle his dates carefully for this Tamil film.
With this Tamil film Allu Arjun has leapfrogged his Tollywood rivals including Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR and Ram Charan Tej, who have been content with releasing their films dubbed in Tamil in Tamil Nadu. “Allu Arjun is brushing up his Tamil speaking skills since it’s a interesting role. It will be a commercial entertainer and not an offbeat film since he wants to be a mainstream Kollywood star,” said a source close to the star. One thing the actor has been very quiet about is his remuneration in Kollywood. His fee in Tollywood is about `4 crore per film while in Kerala it is about `1 crore. “After Arya 2 and Badrinath received a good response in Kerala and the actor’s films are bought for a good price by Malayalam distributors,” the source added. Allu Arjun would be looking to flaunt his dance moves in Kollywood where Tamil superstars Vijay, Ajith and Surya are known for their moves. “Allu Arjun will face tough competition in Kollywood as far as dancing is concerned. He has competition in Tollywood too. But, he takes it in the right spirit,” the source added.