Leading producer M S Raju claims that reigning star Allu Arjun is the flavour of the season with his film ‘Pushpa The Rule’ joining the 1000-club in Indian cinema.
“Allu Arjun’s is the craziest star at the moment and he should enjoy this rare and invincible achievement of joining Rs 1500 crore club. It took 20 years for to reach this position and he has touched a new high in his career,” says M S Raju, who says that Telugu stars are expanding their fan base across the world.
“Of course, Prabhas paved the way with ‘Bahubali;’ and his recent film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ also was a big winner. Jr NTR had some leverage in the Hindi belt with ‘Devara,” he adds.
But he says that only the charisma of a star is not enough to strike a chord with non-Telugu viewers. “Prabhas couldn’t repeat the magic with ‘Radhe Shyam’, so a lot depends on novel content and then an able director to handle it. Good music chips in to make it a worldwide winner,” he adds.
While Telugu stars are ahead of Kollywood stars like Vijay, Suriya and Karthi in wooing Hindi film viewers in 2024. “I am proud that Telugu stars have an edge over Tamil stars this year and impressed Hindi speaking viewers more than anybody else with their action adveturens” he pointed out. He also heaps praises on young Telugu directors like Sukumar, Prashanth Varma and Nag Ashwin who are rocking the box office with unique themes. ‘Socio fantasies and sci-fi thrillers are the best since they offer something unique and magical to viewers. They are giving audiences a larger-than-life film viewing experience and they are going to rock with their sequels ‘Jai Hanuman’ and ‘Kalki 2’ in 2025,’ he adds.
However, the budgets of Telugu films have touched the roof and two films ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and Pushpa The Rule’ were made with over Rs 500 crore plus budget each. “Definitely, budgets of Telugu films have gone sky high but recovery modules have also gone up. Of course, makers of these films trusted their cast and content and loosened their purse strings and stuck gold. Action films are going to get bigger and bigger in the days to come since Telugu actors and directors are the best in dishing out big bang commercial entertainers. Now producers could be more flexible since Hindi distributors are now waiting for such movies along with OTT giants ,” he informs.
He admits that the theatrical business is going through tough times in Telugu states and audiences are turning up to watch only big stars and shying away from other films. “For ages, star-studded films always attracted crowds and nothing new about it. No doubt, theatrical business is key and also offers exciting experiences for viewers and theatres are here to stay, despite a few lean periods,” he concludes.
