Varisu: Tollywood producer Suresh Babu clears his stand on Vijay-starrer's wide release in Telugu states

The release of Vijay's Varisu in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana courted controversy when producer Dil Raju decided to bag a huge number of theatres for the movie. The film, which was announced as a Sankranti release, faced the ire of Telugu cinephiles, distributors and exhibitors as Chiranjeevi's Waltair Veerayya and Balakrishna's Veera Simha Reddy, too, are releasing during the festival.

Many came out heavily on Dil Raju for permitting a never-before-seen release for a Tamil movie in Telugu states when two big Tollywood heroes are arriving with their projects. The issue escalated because Raju had opposed the wide release of Tamil film Petta a few years ago when a few Tollywood outings were arriving during the Sankranti festival.

However, Raju explained that Varisu's arrival during Sankranti was announced several months ago, and that the other two Telugu releases decided to join the fray only recently. The Tollywood version of Varisu, titled Vaarasudu, is expected to boost Vijay's market in the two Telugu states.

Varisu and Veera Simha Reddy are releasing on January 12 while Waltair Veerayya will hit the screens on January 13. In this regard, a video of leading producer Suresh Babu opening up about the scenario has gone viral on social media.

He said that Tamil exhibitors and distributors were kind enough to allot a huge number of screens to Tollywood movies Baahubali, Pushpa and RRR, and that it's time the Telugu industry should reciprocate the same. "The current situation is likely to happen in the future, too. Today, cinema has crossed language and other barriers," pointed out Suresh.

He added, "Avatar is going to grab a huge number of theatres. What if it was a Sankranti release? Going forward, bigger and better movies getting more screens will be the new normal. Tomorrow, Pushpa 2 and Rajamouli's movie with Mahesh might release big in Tamil Nadu as well."