Ronnie Screwvala’s ‘Mission Majnu’ to release in cinemas on 13 May

NEW DELHI: Producer Ronnie Screwvala’s spy thriller Mission Majnu starring Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna will release in cinemas on 13 May, 2022, the makers have confirmed. The film marks Telugu Kannada star Mandanna’s debut in Bollywood.

To be sure, several actors are looking beyond their native language industries to capture pan-India eyeballs. Alia Bhatt is all set to foray into Telugu cinema next year with RRR, a period action film to be directed by S.S. Rajamouli of Baahubali fame. Incidentally, the film that features Jr. NTR and Ram Charan in lead roles, is also slated to star actor Ajay Devgn in what is touted to be a supporting role. While some female actors have participated in this exchange of talent before (Deepika Padukone and Sonakshi Sinha acted in Rajinikanth’s Kochadaiyaan and Lingaa, respectively. Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra, too, have done Tamil films), industry experts say the recent interest by male actors, points to the expanding influence of south Indian films.

At worldwide earnings of more than ₹1,700 crore, Rajamouli’s Telugu language film, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, is the highest grossing Indian film by a wide margin. In 2018, Rajinikanth’s science fiction flick 2.0 earned more than ₹600 crore globally. In contrast, top Bollywood stars have floundered with big-ticket films off late - Aamir Khan’s Thugs of Hindostan finished at ₹138 crore domestically, while Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero didn’t reach the ₹90 crore mark. Another spectacle Kalank earned ₹80 crore within the country.

Media and entertainment industry experts say there’s more awareness about the good work being done in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film industries. In fact, Akshay Kumar’s presence helped Rajinikanth’s 2.0 penetrate deeper into north India. Considering that the film was made in both Tamil and Hindi, also helped.

RRR, too, will release in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.