Baahubali effect: Telugu films eye grand visual effects for pan-India impact
Telugu filmmakers are focusing on pan-India projects, increasing production timelines and budgets. This results in fewer annual releases from top stars, impacting box-office collections and hurting theatre owners.
Telugu film stars and makers are increasingly looking to dub their projects in multiple languages to cultivate a wider audience base, and boosting investments in visual effects and production value. The entire process, while enhancing the grandeur of the final product, is delaying the theatrical release of movies. The trend that started with S.S. Rajamouli’s blockbuster Baahubali has encouraged actors to replicate the film's success by going pan-India.
However, this strategy means that top stars who would earlier see at least one release annually are now taking two to three years to come up with new films. This has meant that the pipeline of new films featuring top stars has almost dried, denting box-office prospects and hurting theatre owners.
Allu Arjun, for example, was seen in Pushpa: The Rise that released in 2021, following it up with Pushpa 2: The Rule only in 2024. Similarly, Jr. NTR’s latest release Devara: Part 1, released over two years after RRR, which had arrived four years after Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava, although that was delayed due covid.
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Ram Charan was seen in Game Changer that released this January, nearly three years after RRR. Mahesh Babu, who last featured in Guntur Kaaram (2024), will next be seen in Rajamouli’s upcoming untitled project that is slated for 2027. According to the Ormax Box Office Report 2024, footfalls for Telugu cinema declined by 12% last year, indicating that the marginal box-office growth of 4% was driven by higher ATP (average ticket price).
Fewer blockbusters, bigger risks
“There was a certain regularity followed by top Telugu stars who would bring new films out at certain intervals. Now, everyone is targeting to become a pan-India hero which means that budgets are higher than before and the time taken to complete the project is longer. Earlier, the risk wasn’t as high," independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan said.
Telugu stars and makers, by aiming to reach pan-India audiences, particularly the Hindi belt, with almost every film, are causing the local industry to suffer, according to trade experts like Chauhan. “If the top stars stop coming and the blockbusters dry up, who else will pull in the crowds? The smaller films can’t really do the heavylifting," Chauhan emphasized.
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To be sure, even for a big festive weekend like Pongal in January this year, the only bona fide Telugu hit was family drama Sankranthiki Vasthunam that grossed over ₹200 crore, with other big-ticket films like Game Changer and Daaku Maharaaj underperforming.
Trade-off: anticipation and spectacle
Film producer and distributor Yusuf Shaikh said that nobody was looking at putting together a film quickly anymore. “Nobody is interested in regular stories, and the film needs legs at the box office, which can only come from either extravagant VFX or some kind of mythological angle to the story. Everyone is trying to figure what can help them touch ₹500-1,000 crore at the box office and that requires at least a two-year commitment," Shaikh said.
That said, some believe the longer production timelines for pan-India films may not impact the box-office negatively, but instead help amplify the excitement.
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“Telugu superstars enjoy an incredibly loyal fanbase that’s willing to wait for the grand spectacle they promise. While these stars may not have back-to-back releases, their films arrive with massive anticipation, leading to record-breaking openings. Unlike in Bollywood, where frequent releases keep audiences engaged, Telugu fans thrive on anticipation. The longer the wait, the bigger the celebration when their favourite stars return to the big screen," Gautam Dutta, CEO- revenue and operations, PVR INOX Ltd, said.
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