Industry
Southern heroes Jr NTR, Prabhas reap benefits of established franchises in Hindi belt with new hits
Summary
The popularity of southern stars Prabhas and Jr NTR, stemming from previous films like Baahubali and RRR, drives box office success for new releases Salaar and Devara in the Hindi market.
Southern film heroes Prabhas and Jr NTR are reaping the benefits of their movies such as Baahubali and RRR, which turned out to be massive hits in the Hindi-speaking northern belt. Their new releases such as Salaar and Devara, dubbed in Hindi, are generating box-office success even though they are unrelated to their earlier hits, trade experts said.
In September, the Hindi-dubbed version of Devara: Part 1, starring Jr NTR, made ₹7.95 crore on its opening day and managed collections of ₹67.24 crore so far. This exceeded the earnings of recently released Hindi films such as Jigra, Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, Vedaa, and Khel Khel Mein.
Earlier, the Hindi version of Prabhas' Salaar earned ₹18 crore on day one and ₹153.84 crore so far.
“Without question, these stars have turned into household names and there is great recognition for them and their previous films among Hindi-speaking audiences," said Rahul Puri, managing director of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas. “There is also a realisation that their films come guaranteed with certain elements such as drama and action that viewers want."
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In the case of Devara, Jr NTR is known to audiences in the north as ‘the RRR guy’ and the film delivered on all the elements that mass-market viewers looked for, Puri said. While southern language movies featuring stars popular among north Indian audiences come with the advantage of some brand recognition, the need to market them is less than for a title featuring an actor yet to make inroads in Hindi films.
Experts like Puri expect traction for Game Changer, starring Ram Charan (who also appeared in RRR), slated for release in January, and Toxic, featuring Yash from the KGF franchise.
Pan-India success
"The familiarity and popularity of heroes like Prabhas and Jr NTR significantly boost the reception of their films in the Hindi belt," said Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India. “Post Baahubali and RRR, these actors have gained a pan-Indian fan base. This recognition allows their films, even those not part of established franchises, to garner attention across regions. Their association with high-quality cinema also raises audience expectations, which helps in marketing and building anticipation."
Film distributor and exhibitor Sunny Khanna said a name like Jr NTR coming back to theatres with a pan-India film after a success like RRR grabs eyeballs easily. Further, the presence of Bollywood stars such as Jahnvi Kapoor in such movies helps.
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“Southern heroes are definitely seen as pan-India stars today. They may not have the following that a Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan would in the Hindi-speaking belt, but they are definitely on par with younger names like Ranbir Kapoor or Ranveer Singh," Khanna explained.
To be sure, trade experts said southern heroes are building on their market in north India with each new film and the movies manage better traction than many original Hindi language films even though the content may be below par in some cases. Despite the box-office numbers, the word-of-mouth around Devara and Salaar was mixed, and definitely not comparable to Baahubali or RRR, the films that introduced these faces to Hindi-speaking audiences.
“A lot of these stars have also been seen on the small screen and audiences are familiar with their other movies via dubbed versions on satellite TV. However, the appeal on the big screen is quite different," said Amit Sharma, managing director of Miraj Entertainment, a company that operates multiplex theatres.
