Prabhas, Deepika Padukone’s film to release on 12 January

The new multilingual film, currently untitled, starring Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan, will release in cinemas on 12 January, 2024. The film has been directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies.

The south Indian film industry, that has long set the bar for big-budget spectacles with movies like Baahubali, 2.0, KGF: Chapter 1 and RRR, is prepping a slate of exciting films to draw audiences to theatres post pandemic.

Made on budgets of more than ₹200 crore each, these will be shot in multiple languages including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, among others and feature a mix of Bollywood and south Indian faces to draw on fan bases across states and geographies. While Baahubali director SS Rajamouli had Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt star alongside Jr NTR and Ram Charan in his period drama RRR, Prabhas has a second film titled Adipurush with Saif Ali Khan as the antagonist to be directed by Om Raut of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior fame.

Trade experts say that post pandemic everyone has realised that big screen experience matters a lot. Be it Baahubali, RRR or Hollywood spectacles like Avatar: The Way of Water, audiences know that the thrill of watching a big-ticket, larger-than-life experience is unmatched, even though OTT (over-the-top) streaming platforms have thrown up compelling content consistently. Further, filmmakers and studios in the south have caught on to the formula of adding a big north Indian star to their cast, like an Akshay Kumar alongside Rajinikanth in 2.0 and releasing the movie in multiple languages.

That discovery probably happened because there are more film fanatics in the south, movie-viewing is like a religion there and they enjoy the big screen experience much more. Plus, bringing multiple language stars together just expands the market for an individual film, makes it more viable and adds to revenue sources like satellite, digital, music and merchandise rights.