Our top stars are all playing safe and taking no chances in 2023 and 2024. While most are looking at recovering lost ground, the rest want to make sure that they do not fall into the messy zone of trying to reestablish their box-office credentials after long runs!
The South makers, especially from 2021 down, have shown the way to box-office glories as well as online success with their commendable blend of emotions, entertainment and restyling of stories, also ruling the mass-friendly action genre. And with most of Mumbai’s top heroes having a dubious box-office record of late, it is also clearly in their interest to ‘go South’!
At least one film of several top stars (and we are sure there must be many more planned in the pipeline!) is decidedly with a South Indian setup. Yes, even Shah Rukh Khan, who normally never went that way, is doing his home production Jawan, which according to some, will be huge because of Atlee’s reputation down South. The film co-stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupati and has music by Anirudh Ravinchander.
This is another mini-trend that seems to be coming up—South Indian composers are getting to score complete Hindi films.
After the fiasco of Laal Singh Chaddha (not necessarily because of it!), Aamir Khan had hinted that he would be taking a break to concentrate for a while on his kids and mother, but there is good reason to believe that he has received an offer to star in Prashant KGF 2 Neel’s next as antagonist to NTR Jr.—an offer that will be difficult to turn down.
Ranveer Singh, beleaguered by flops in a row, will collaborate with South whiz kid Shankar for a cinematic adaptation of the epic, Velpari, a larger-than-life, mega-budget film with VFX to match. The actor is a huge fan of the action genre, as it dominated the cinema he grew up on in the 1980s.
Set to release in March 2023 is Ajay Devgn’s next directorial. Bholaa, in 3D. The emotional tale of a father and his daughter will prove the time-tested axiom of cinema that action works best when it has a strong emotional base. The film is a remake of the Tamil actioner, Kaithi.
Akshay Kumar, always someone to do varied genres, is starring in the Hindi remake of Soorarai Pottru, inspired by the life of G.R. Gopinath, founder of the Indian low-cost airline, Simplifly Deccan.
And Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal has already evoked curiosity with its poster. After all, it brings together the hero of Brahmastra and Sandeep Vanga Reddy, the director of the 2019 blockbuster, Kabir Singh.
And despite his own box-office clout, even Salman Khan, in his home production, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, has packed in the South’s Ram Charan and Venkatesh and composer Ravi Basrur.
Kartik Aaryan, too, is also heavily banking on Shehzada, the remake of the Telugu blockbuster, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, for furthering his hit record after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.
The South seems to be here to stay as never before in Hindi cinema as well!
