Shivarajkumar’s Vedha Telugu version opens in theatres; OTT release to affect box office

In what is seen as one of the worst release strategies for a dubbed film, Century Star Shivarajkumar’s Vedha released in Andhra and Telangana as Shiva Vedha on February 9. The original Kannada version was a Christmas 2022 release and instead of doing a simultaneous theatrical outing for the dubbed versions, or spacing them out by a week or two, the Telugu version comes only a day ahead of the film’s OTT outing on Zee5. As of late last night, Vedha is available to stream in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil on the platform. Box office tracking sites claimed that the film had between 17 and 25 per cent occupancy only, despite being Shivarajkumar’s biggest release in the region. The occupancy, they reckon, will be further impacted now that the film is available on OTT.

Initial reviews for Shiva Vedha have been mixed with critics and audiences not entirely taken in by director A Harsha’s revenge saga. “#ShivaVedha is a slow paced movie, it’s not a perfect flick for Telugu audience. It did well in Kannada. But, the Telugu version Shiva Vedha is a just passable revenge drama,” was one comment, while another read, “The routine revenge story & overly done violence in the film makes it a below-par affair overall.” Another called the film a well-rounded social drama. Kannada movie fans are hoping that Shiva Vedha works well in Tollywood circles, so that Shivarajkumar’s next, the MG Srinivas directed Ghost gets a better opening in that market.

A period drama about the brutal 60s, Vedha was Shivarajkumar’s fourth collaboration with Harsha, after Bhajarangi, Vajrakaaya and Bhajarangi2, and his first home production under the banner Geetha Productions. With music by Arjun Janya, the film also starred Umashree, Aditii Sagar, Shwetha Changappa and Ganavi Laxman, among others.