30th June 2005

With the rampant Video piracy that is slowly killing the film industry, producing movies with heavy budgets is becoming more and more riskier. However if a star hero or star director has got market in more than one language like in Telugu and Tamil, then it would be a factor, which will motivate producers to make big budget movies with such star heroes or star directors. Going forward, such Directors or Heroes who have got market in more than one language will be the ones that are in greater demand.

At one point of time Nagarjuna and Rajasekhar had reasonably good market in Tamil after their films "Geethanjali", "Siva" and "Ankusam" got dubbed into Tamil. Nagarjuna even acted in a direct Tamil film "Rakshakudu". Unfortunately this film did not do too well. Subsequently Nagarjuna and Rajasekhar's lack of concentration on Tamil film industry and the spate of their bad films that got dubbed into Tamil probably led to an erosion of that market. Though Chiranjeevi is popular in Tamil nadu and his dubbed movies are enjoyed in B and C centers, our Megastar does not enjoy the same popularity like what Rajnikanth enjoys here in Andhra Pradesh. After Pawan Kalyan's Tholi Prema got dubbed into Tamil, it was not followed by any further release. His successful film Thammudu was remade into Tamil with Vijay as Hero with the same director who made the Telugu version.

On the contrary Tamil super stars like Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan have always enjoyed good popularity in Telugu. Kamal Haasan even acted in direct Telugu movies like Saagara Sangamam, Swathi Muthyam, Indrudu Chandrudu and Subha Sankalpam. These films brought him closer to Telugu film audience apart from his dubbed movies. Likewise Rajani did a cameo for about just 10 minutes duration in Mohanbabu's Pedharaayudu. Everybody knows the response that he got for that role. This was soon followed by the release of Basha, Arunachalam, Muthu, Narasimha, Baba and Chadramukhi. Whenever his film was declared a hit in Tamil, it became a confirmed hit in Telugu too.

Arjun is another hero who never ignored either the Tamil or Telugu film industry. From time to time he always acted in direct Telugu films like Hanuman Junction, Puttintiki Raa chelli, Sree Anjaneyam etc. Now he is directing a bilingual film Siva Kasi with Jagapathi babu also playing a hero. Jagapathi Babu is being introduced to Tamil Industry through this film. It remains to be seen what would be the fate of this film and the response that Jagapathi Babu receives for this film in Tamil Nadu and whether he would follow it with more bilingual projects. Simbu is another hero who is trying to get a market in Telugu through his dubbed movies. He became a familiar face to Telugu audience through Kurradochchadu and Manmadha. His father also was a familiar actor to Telugu through his film Prema Saagaram that was a runaway success in Telugu. Prakash Raj is another actor who has been accepted by Telugu and Tamil audience alike.

Apart from the actors, the Tamil film directors also enjoy good following in Telugu. Whenever Mani Rathnam made a movie, it was dubbed and simultaneously released in Telugu. Mani Rathnam also made a direct Telugu film Geethanjali and the success enjoyed by this film bought him closer to the Telugu audience. Director Surya is also a well-known director in Telugu through his films Kushi and Naani. Except his film Vaali the other films were remade in Telugu and he directed those film himself. Shankar is another director who enjoys a commendable following in Telugu and whose films are dubbed into Telugu and released on same day as they are released in Tamil.

Though film directors like Dasari Narayana Rao and K.Raghavendra Rao are acclaimed directors in Telugu who have more than 100 films each to their credit, they are relatively unknown in Tamil film Industry though they made films in Hindi. On the contrary Tamil Directors like K.Balachandar, Bharathi raja and Bhagya Raja have gained name and fame in Telugu movies. K.Balachandar even directed some direct Telugu films like Maro Charithra, Idhi Katha Kaadhu, Anthu Leni Katha, and Rudhra Veena. Bharathi raja also directed Chiranjeevi in direct Telugu Film Aaradhana. Though Bhagyaraj never made direct Telugu movie, he is familiar to Telugu audience through his dubbed movies.

Present Star Directors in Telugu like Krishna Vamsi, Puri Jagannath, Teja, VV Vinayak, Sukumar, SS Rajamouli enjoy commendable following in Telugu. However, outside Telugu, they do not enjoy good following. Krishna Vamsi made Anthahapuram in Tamil with Partiban playing the role of Jagapathi babu. However this film did not enjoy the success that Anthahapuram did in Telugu. Hits of Puri Jagannath like Idiot and Amma nanna Tamil ammayi were remade in Tamil with different directors. Raja mouli's Simhadhri was also remade as Gajendra by a different director (Suresh Krissna). Teja's Jayam was also remade by different director Raja. By remaking their hits by different directors, the popularity of these Telugu directors in Tamil industry remains where it is. Tamil director Vikraman was in this state for a very long time. Though his maiden film Puthu Vasantham was dubbed into Telugu as Nava Vasantham and had a decent run, his subsequent films until Vasantham were all remade into Telugu by different directors. Few people know that Vikram was the original director of Telugu hits like Subhakankshalu, Soorya Vamsham, Maa Annayya, Raja.

Of course not every hero in Tamil has succeeded in gaining popularity in Telugu. Vijay, Ajith and Surya are three big stars in Tamil, but are relatively unknown in Telugu. While Surya could have forayed to Telugu film by dubbing his stupendous success Kaaka Kaaka (later remade with Venkatesh as Garshana), Mahesh could have entered the Tamil film industry through his mega hit film Okkadu. What Mahesh missed, Vijay gained. If Tamil audience through his film Okkadu would have known Mahesh, probably his big budget film Arjun which had Madhura Meenakshi temple as the backdrop could have had a decent run in Tamil also thereby justifying the huge budget spent for the movie.

Allu Arjun also could have dubbed his super hit film Arya in Tamil thereby getting exposed to Tamil Industry. Probably he is one actor who should plan to release his films in Tamil the same day they are released in Telugu. His dancing talent apart from the acting talents that he has should help him get closer to Tamil audience. Keeping in view the frequency of movies that Pawan Kalyan makes, it would be better if he also plans for bilingual projects. To begin with, the present film under production "Bangaaram" is produced by A.M Rathnam and directed by Dharani. This could be one film, which could be simultaneously released in Tamil. The popularity enjoyed by Dharani and the respect earned by A.M Rathnam, as an able filmmaker should draw audiences to the theatre. Once again Bangaaram is an example of a Tamil film director foraying into Telugu film industry.

Though Vikram acted in several Telugu films, before he made it big in Tamil, he became popular to Telugu audience through his dubbed movies Siva Puthrudu and Aparichithudu. After the success seen by Aparichithudu, I am sure his future Tamil films will be dubbed and probably released on the same day they are released in Telugu. Vikram's plans to act in direct Telugu film will only bring him more closely to the Telugu audience.

Compared to the Heroes and Directors, Heroines have done a better job of gaining popularity and acting in both Tamil and Telugu films. Jyothika and Sneha have good demand in both Telugu and Tamil. Prior to them Soundarya and Simran also were in great demand in both Tamil and Telugu. Likewise Meena, Roja, Ramya Krishna and Rambha acted in several Tamil and Telugu movies. Probably Heroines are more easily acceptable in either Tamil or Telugu Industry compared to the Heroes. This is evident as we can see that some of these Heroines like Jyothika and Simran are from the North.

If a director or actor has good market in more than one language, the demand for him increases. I think it is time that our Heroes and Directors not ignore the potential that Tamil Film Industry offers and try to penetrate forcefully into Tamil markets so that producers can justify spending big budgets for their movies. Telugu film stars and directors should take a cue from their counterparts in Tamil industry and devise a strategy of increasing their market potential and should not ignore the opportunities that the Tamil film market provides.

Sriram Thota
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Also read Sriram's other articles
Aparichitudu - Terrific entertainer
Smoking is injurious to films
Athanokkade Bhadra
Chandramukhi - neither Basha not Baba