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Last Updated: 12.23 PM, Jul 28, 2022
Bollywood is working overtime to woo southern audiences, taking a cue from the popularity of southern cinema in Hindi-speaking markets. Upcoming big-ticket Hindi films like Brahmastra and Laal Singh Chaddha feature popular southern actors Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya respectively, even as Hindi films are being dubbed in southern languages.
For Laal Singh Chaddha, Aamir Khan has tied up with top local distributors in Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Alongside, Bollywood stars are joining publicity events in the southern states, such as Ranbir Kapoor’s recent visit to Kerala with S.S. Rajamouli was a step in that direction.
“While Hindi films have found an audience in multiplexes of, say, Chennai or Coimbatore, 95% of viewers (in small-town southern states) have only been lured by big stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan and more universally entertaining films,” said Rakesh Gowthaman, managing director of Vettri Theatres in Chennai. While dubbing Hindi films in southern languages is the first step, studios have, by and large, refrained from exhaustive promotions including media interactions, advertising on television channels or in local newspapers and fan greets in the south, Gowthaman said.
Some of it is changing now, with Brahmastra releasing its new song Kesariya in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, and engaging Baahubali director Rajamouli for launch and other promotional activities. Television advertising too will be easy, given that co-producer Star Studios owns several regional channels. Gowthaman said the performance of Brahmastra’s Telugu version will be crucial, and the film is likely to do especially well in markets like Hyderabad and Bengaluru where both Hindi and Telugu are spoken.
“Until 10 years ago, Tamil audiences didn’t even watch Telugu or Malayalam films actively. But Baahubali changed that and movies like Pushpa, KGF and RRR benefited,” Gowthaman said, pointing out that like the Hindi-speaking belt, viewers in the south are hungry for commercially entertaining fare irrespective of language.