New Delhi: Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, a 2020 action drama starring Allu Arjun will now be dubbed and released in Hindi to cash in on the actor’s new fan base in north India following the success of his latest action flick Pushpa-The Rise: Part One. The film, also available on Netflix and originally in Telugu, had not been dubbed upon its initial release but the Hindi version will hit screens on 26 January.
The initiative is being carried out by Goldmine Telefilms, the same company that released Pushpa in the north Indian market.
To be sure, shortage of content in film theatres across India after they re-opened post the first lockdown in 2020 was filled by dubbed southern language films which have been hits on television among Hindi-speaking audiences.
Cinema owners took to screening dubbed Hindi versions of popular south Indian films, particularly Telugu, that have massive fan following on satellite television channels. Featuring top stars like Arjun, Ram Charan, Dhanush and others, nearly 70% of the single screens in north Indian states such as Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and parts of Maharashtra were up for this unique strategy as major Bollywood offerings eluded them until March 2021.
Theatre owners and trade experts said the charm of south Indian fare is unmatched—these action potboilers serve high points every couple of minutes and keep audiences thoroughly engaged at a time when Bollywood has increasingly turned to niche, mainstream cinema.
Among the titles released earlier were Karthi’s Kaithi, Vishal-starrer Action, Dhanush’s Asuran, and others. Trade experts said people in the heartland are hooked to the south Indian action genre, be it on television or on the YouTube channel of companies like Goldmine on their phones. Allu Arjun’s Surya: The Soldier (the dubbed version of Naa Peru Surya, Naa Illu India) released in November 2020 had managed more than twice the collections of new Bollywood offering Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari in certain small towns.
