Ever since SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali: The Beginning placed south Indian cinema right at the centre of India’s cinematic world, film industries in the south are looking to cash in on each other’s talent and popularity and is transcending linguistic boundaries to reach wider audiences. Filmmakers are no longer just remaking or dubbing popular films from other industries to suit their own audience. Now, they are keen on releasing movies simultaneously in several south Indian languages and actors are pushing the envelope and are dubbing for themselves in other languages.
In the Telugu industry, better known as Tollywood, the format has become a roaring success. Earlier this year, one of Tollywood’s biggest superstars Akkineni Nagarjuna dubbed in Tamil for the first time for Tamil film Thozha (Oopiri in Telugu). The film was a resounding success in both Tamil Nadu and the Telugu speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Latest we hear is that Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar has expressed interest to remake the film in Hindi. Similarly, actor NTR Jr has lent his voice for the song Geleya Geleya from the Kannada film Chakravyuha. The actor, who has performed only in Telugu films till date, is a known face in Bengaluru and has made his debut as a singer in Kannada.
NTR’s next film Janatha Garage will feature Malayalam star Mohanlal in an important role, as well as Unni Mukundan, a popular Malayalam actor. Although top stars in Malayalam have always shown enthusiasm to be part of Tamil movies, it is probably for the first time that two actors from Mollywood are part of a humungous project in Telugu. With superstar Mohanlal and young actor Unni Mukundan sharing screen for the mega project that has NTR Jr in the lead,the movie is already awaited in Mollywood too. Says actor Unni, “Janata Garage, even before its release, has given me an unprecedented reach. It has already earned me a few good offers from both Kollywood and Tollywood. Telugu industry is bigger than the Malayalam industry. There is no budget crunch and this is new for someone like me.” The presence of Unni and Mohanlal will open market for the movie in Kerala like in the case of recent Vijay-Mohanlal starrer Jilla that set the cash registers ringing.
Mohanlal will also be seen in another Telugu-Malayalam bilingual, which will be directed by Chandrasekhar Yeleti. The film is touted as a family drama and is set to feature known faces from both Telugu and Malayalam film industries. The exchange of talent in the south doesn’t extend to superstars alone. Even the leading ladies are quite popular across all industries in the South. Take for instance Tollywood’s reigning queen Anushka Shetty. Apart from featuring in the multi-lingual Baahubali, Anushka’s Size Zero was also a Tamil-Telugu bilingual and the actress garnered praise from both sets of audience. Her next film Bhagmati, may also be a bilingual and is set to feature Malayalam star Jayaram in a crucial role.
Multilingual projects are also gaining popularity in Sandalwood, since the industry does encourage dubbing of films from other languages. Sudeep is the only Kannada star who has established himself in Hindi and South Indian films. He collaborated with SS Rajamouli for Eega and played an antagonist in Puli, opposite Vijay. He is currently shooting for Kannada-Tamil Kotigobba 2 and as Mudinja Ivana Pudi directed by KS Ravi Kumar.
Last week, Puneeth Rajkumar’s Chakravyuha, directed by Tamil director Sarvanan, was released. This remake of Sarvanan’s Tamil film, Ivan Veramathiri, also saw Arun Vijay debut in Kannada. P Vasu, who works in all four languages, directed Vishnuvardhan in 2004 Kannada film Apthamitra. He was associated with Shivarajkumar for Shivalinga this year, and will be doing a sequel with the actor.
Ram Gopal Varma debuted in Kannada with Killing Veerappan earlier this year with Shivarajkumar playing the lead. RGV is now working in multilingual project Rai that is produced by CR Manohar with Vivek Oberoi playing the lead. Similarly, Shivarajkumar and Sudeep-starrer Kali, directed by Prem, will be made in three languages.
Rockline Venkatesh has produced Telugu and Tamil films and is associated with Rajinikanth for Linga and Bajrangi Bhaijaan with Salman Khan. Allu Aravind, father of Allu Arjun, associates with Rockline Venkatesh for Gandu Endare Gandu starring Ganesh.
Industry experts feel that such films, which bring heroes from different languages together, ensure a win-win situation for all. Producer Rajeev of PVP cinemas that produced the bilingual Thozha (Oopiri in Telugu), explains, “It is simple economics. When you make a big budget film, you want the stars to pull in the numbers from three – four markets. So, when we made Thozha, we were clear that we wanted to target both the Tamil and Telugu markets and we opted for a cast that would pull in the audiences in both markets.”
Says Jilla director Nesan, “Earlier, there used to be a certain degree of difficulty in getting a star from one language to act in a different language film. Now that has changed. When I told about my plans to both Lal sir and Vijay sir, both of them were very willing and accepted immediately. Today, I can cast any artiste who is talented. This is because audiences are open to watching any film as long as the content is good and the artistes are talented.”
So, why are actors opting for it?
Observes producer Rajeev, “The stars want to expand their footprint. A star from Tamil will also want to have a market in Telugu and vice-versa. A direct film gets one more readily accepted. In fact, some of the top stars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan enjoy a huge fan base because of the direct films that they did in different languages including Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Telugu star Allu Arjun, for instance, has plans to do a direct Malayalam film as he has a solid market there.”
Looks like filmmakers have realised the significance of the adage — United we stand; Divided we fall. The synergy mode is here to stay.