Saif Ali Khan to star in Jr. NTR’s new film

New Delhi: Actor Saif Ali Khan will be seen in a new film starring Jr NTR and to be directed by Koratala Siva. The film also features Jahnvi Kapoor and will release on 5 April, 2024.

The past few months have seen several actors breach linguistic and geographical borders to appear in films not in their native tongues.

While south Indian actors like Vijay Deverakonda, Vijay Sethupathi and Rashmika Mandanna were seen in Hindi films, Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon and Deepika Padukone are working in what are primarily Telugu language films. The transition is part of the move to create films for pan-India audiences made either by Bollywood or southern film studios but to be released in multiple dubbed languages for reach across markets.

While Hindi film actors have realised the appeal of these large-scale southern films, south Indian actors are also keen to look beyond their core base. Prabhas’ Adipurush and the untitled film with Padukone are a few upcoming titles that will see actors crossing over to other languages.

Audiences in the north have seen these southern actors on streaming platforms and know what they bring to the table. The actors, on the other hand, have saturated their home markets and want to increase recoveries for their films. SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali franchise had shown the way for Telugu and Tamil films to penetrate into the Hindi heartland including small towns in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, trade experts said and more recent films have built on the trend. Released late December 2021, the dubbed Hindi version of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa: The Rise-Part One, had made over Rs. 100 crore, with Maharashtra and Gujarat driving the business. This was Arjun’s first release in the Hindi market and had released without any marketing or promotional buzz.