Allu Arjun has reached out to a huge audience even in North India with Pushpa: The Rise and I’ve been stunned by his performance. With that being the stepping stone, it has been announced today that the Hindi dubbed version of Allu’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is set to hit the theatres on Republic Day.
Since all the major Hindi releases have been postponed, it’s an open window for the Allu Arjun-starrer and it might just reap benefits from that. But, I wonder if Hindi dubbed version of the film might affect the Kartik Aaryan & Kriti Sanon starrer Shehzada which is its official Hindi remake.
When asked about it, Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh says,
“Allu Arjun is a huge star now. There’s scarcity of content right now, there’s no film releasing for the time being at least and this film is coming. I’ve seen the original Telegu version and it’s a complete package. Pushpa has taken Allu to the interiors of the heartland, so Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo will definitely benefit a lot because of that advantage. As far as Shehzada is concerned, the makers of have made some minute changes with the script as per the North-Indian sensibilities. But you can’t change any further because the crux of the film is what happens in the first 10minutes. I feel that it would definitely affect and there would be a dent when the film releases.”
While trade analyst Amod Mehra is similarly opinionated, he also talks about a larger picture which will be a matter of concern; not just this film.
Amod Mehra adds,
“The theatres are not fully functional yet and considering the Covid scenario, we aren’t sure if the theatres will be open, so, it’s slightly more premature to say how Ala VaikunthPurramuloo will do. But, definitely the Hindi remake will be in trouble because even the Hindi dubbed version will soon be available on satellite and OTT. If the Kartik Aaryan starrer is exceptionally good, then people will still go but otherwise the audience would be reluctant to go to the theatres if it’s released on OTT. Why will anyone want to spend money on the movie if it’s available on OTT? Even the Telegu version of Jersey is available on OTT so, many who have seen it, may not go and watch the Shahid Kapoor film on-screen. That’s going to be a problem with all the remakes from now on. Even Ajay Devgn has started shooting for the remake of Kaithi but soon that film may also have a Hindi dubbed version. This company, GoldMines has acquired 1000 Telegu, Tamil films and is making their dubbed versions and they will soon be available on OTT and satellite. So, that danger would be there for all the movies which are being remade.”
But trade expert Amul Mohan is differently opinionated. He feels that since the original film released two years ago, it may not create a major difference.
Amul Mohan says,
“It’s a two year old film and very popular on Netflix already. People have seen it in different ways and people who’ve not seen it are the ones who don’t want to read sub-titles; but that still doesn’t affect the upper large number who’ve already consumed the content and moved past it. It’s actually doing what it’s supposed to do anyway. So, I don’t think it will affect Shehzada. It’s currently under filming and being made with a Hindi director so the sensibilities are going to be really different. They will make it for a Pan-India audience, with a Pan-India actor like Kartik Aaryan, so definitely a different zone is going to be achieved. Nobody is doubting Allu Arjun’s stardom to pull people to theatres but it’s still not the be-all and end-all. They’re releasing Ala VaikunthPurramuloo, and then also some of Sukumar’s films (who is the director of Pushpa). There’s a dearth of content and that’s probably a trigger to do something like this and provide an influx. This company has the rights and they want to excercise it which is good but I don’t see that as a big hindrance to Shehzada.”
Having said that, the Hindi remake will have to be really good, content-wise to pull the audience to the theatres!
Taran Adarsh added,
“With due respect to anyone who’s remaking any of Trivikram Srinivas’ films, Trivikram is a genius in Telegu and one of the best directors of our country. The biggest stars want to work with him because he delivers such content. He is one of the top 5 Telegu directors in the country. You can’t replicate Trivikram. So, the Hindi version will have to do drastically different or amazing to live up to Allu Arjun and Trivikram. But like I said, the first ten minutes is the foundation of the film and not much can be changed in that. This news must have definitely given them a shock. But let’s hope for the best.”
I really do hope for the best for both the films but I’m so sure that all the Allu Arjun fans must be really excited with this news. For now, Shehzada is slated to release in November 2022, and it’s directed by Rohit Dhawan.