Frankly speaking, though Tollywood is one of the biggest industries in the world when it comes to making record number of films every year, the Telugu market was constrained for Telugu states, Karnataka and USA, until SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali created box office tsunami in almost all the territories it was released. The film ended as biggest grosser in India.
In fact, Baahubali inspired many Telugu filmmakers to come up with Pan India films. Many star heroes and filmmakers showed interest in making Pan India films. But, no other film other than Baahubali did profitable business in all the territories, including Saaho and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.
Rajamouli’s multi-starrer RRR starring NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt and few other popular stars will also be releasing as a Pan India film. And there’s no doubt that, this film is going to rock the box office nationwide and in overseas as well. But, the question is does the other films being made as Pan Inda films really are capable of performing well in Telugu states and in other regions.
Prabhas’s ongoing film with Radhakrishna Kumar is also being made as a multi-lingual film. Vijay Deverakonda who’s going through lean phase with flops is also testing his luck in Bollywood with a tentatively titled film Fighter being helmed by Puri Jagannadh.
Interestingly, Mancu Manoj who doesn’t have a single super hit to his career is also coming up with a Pan India film. His latest film Aham Brahmasmi under the direction of debutante Srikanth N Reddy is made in Telugu, Hindi and will be dubbed in other languages.
Meanwhile, Tollywood filmmakers not learning from the backlash for Pan India are now planning Pan World films. Anushka and Madhavan starrer Nishabdham is the first crossover film for Tollywood.
Manchu Vishnu whose last few films were duds at box office and who doesn’t have solid market is also doing a crossover film Mosagallu. He recently announced that, he is making the film with different actors for Telugu and English versions.
Director Nag Ashwin who delivered a blockbuster with Mahanati announced to make a Pan World film with young rebel star Prabhas whose last film Saaho was a disaster in Telugu, though it was a decent hit in Hindi.
Many wonder do the story really have the universal appeal to make it in multi-languages and release it worldwide. Nag Ashwin proclaimed sci-fi as the genre of the film. But, the question is can his thoughts be on par with Hollywood filmmakers who do intense research on scripts spending years just on pre-production.
Apparently, many filmmakers are announcing Pan India and Pan World films just to grab the attention and also to create interest among trade circles. But, at the end of the day, content matters which indeed is the deciding factor for any films fate.
Hope, Telugu filmmakers will realize the reality and will make films that will have universal appeal!