Hyderabad: Leading Telugu producers are rushing to Chennai to land big projects with Tamil superstars. After top producer Dil Raju tasted success with ‘Varisu’ starring Tamil star Vijay, other producers like DVV Danayya, People Media Factory, and Arkay Media are also holding discussions with Tamil stars. Just recently, DVV Danayya met Tamil superstar Vijay to make a big-ticket entertainer and it is touted to be one of the costliest projects in the South film industry. “Telugu producers are large-hearted and risk-takers too. They are bound to rock in Kollywood riding on their entrepreneurial skills,” says producer Lagadapatri Sridhar, who describes their move as pragmatic and rational. “With profits on movies with Telugu stars diminishing drastically, Telugu producers are looking out for greener pastures and also they are good in dishing out commercial potboilers and trying to cash on it,” he adds.
Right now, People Media Factory is making a comic caper ‘Vadakkupatti Ramasamy’ with Tamil actor Santhanam to expand their brand equity. “Producers' brand value will shoot up if they make films in varied languages and they are bound to learn a few things too. They will also know the changing taste of Tamil film viewers,” points out Sridhar. He claims that Tamil stars are also showing interest in Telugu producers because there is a dearth of big producers in Kollywood. “Telugu producers are cash rich and could make Rs 200 or 250 crore films without batting an eyelid. Besides, there is a dearth of top-league producers in Kollywood at this moment. Telugu producers are capable of making pan-India movies and promoting them well in Bollywood too. Hence, Tamil stars would love to work with producers who have such vision and expertise,” he adds.
Actually, Lagadapati Sridhar made ‘Style’ with Raghava Lawrence and released the film in Kollywood as “Lakshiyam’ in 2006. “I didn’t get a good response from the media and I couldn’t have posters of my film in the city. Tamil media was also reluctant to promote our film those days,” he laments and adds, “Until Rajamouli came in, Tamil media was reluctant to give space to Telugu movies. While Telugu print and news channels cover Tamil film collections because we are big-hearted and take everyone into our fold,” he points out. He urges Kollywood and Tamil media to open up for Telugu movies. “I hope they will give more space to Telugu films since we are rocking the world,” he concludes.
