It looks like popularity of dubbed Telugu films is losing steam in North India and it is time for Telugu stars and filmmakers to change their promotional strategy and aggressively promote their films to have decent enough release in 100-odd theatres across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, UP and Bihar to mint money otherwise, it would be difficult to draw in Hindi speaking viewers.
“Except for ‘Jailer’, recent Telugu films like ‘Virupaksha’ and ‘Das Ki Dhamki’ which were dubbed into Hindi and released in North India failed to set box office on fire. Now, with almost every other Telugu film being promoted as multilingual including Hindi language, it could be very difficult to get proper releases in mainstream theatres. They will be relegated to theatres in small centres, which will go unnoticed with poor collections," says a leading Hindi film distributor.
Actually, Rajamouli triggered interest for Telugu films with blockbusters like ‘Baahubali’ an ‘RRR’. Later, it was cashed in on by Allu Arjun’s ‘Pushpa’ which garnered Rs 150 crores gross in North India, followed by Rs 40 crores gross by Nikhil Siddharth’s ‘ Karthikeya 2’ but subsequent releases had no takers. “No doubt, few recent Telugu films didn’t do well due to weak content. From now on, aggressive promotions by stars and filmmakers of respective films is the key. They have to spend two or other three days in Mumbai and other cities to boost their film. Producers have to shell out Rs 4 to 5 crores per film to reach out to Hindi speaking viewers, who otherwise would be watching their own language films,” he adds.
He also cautions about the huge success of big ticket Hindi films like ‘Gadar 2’ and ‘OMG 2’. “With star-studded Bollywood films rocking the box office, it would be even more difficult for dubbed Telugu movies to woo in crowds,” he points out.
Yet again, big Telugu films like Ram Pothineni ‘Skanda’, Ravi Teja’s ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao 'and Vijay Deverakonda's 'Kushi' are set for pan-India release. However, their success in north India hugely depends on their new promotional strategy’.
“Routine action Telugu films are not working these days. So makers have to highlight novelty in their content to connect with the Hindi viewers via promotions and gain their confidence for good openings, or else the lean patch is bound to continue," he concludes.
