‘Dhurandhar Not Being Dubbed into Telugu was a huge Opportunity Missed’: Allu Sirish says ‘Hindi Studios Should Learn a Little from Animal’s Playbook’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Ranveer Singh-starrer “Dhurandhar,” which released last year in December, emerged as the highest Bollywood grosser of all time. While the film performed well in the southern markets, it could have done much better business if it had been dubbed in the regional languages like "Jawan" and "Animal."

Talking to Variety India, actor Allu Sirish, who has now ventured into its father’s production house, explains how "Dhurandhar" and "Chhaava" would have benefited if they’d been released in multiple dubbed versions during their theatrical run. “I loved ‘Dhurandhar.’ I loved ‘Chhaava’, and I loved ‘Animal.’ I think only the makers of ‘Animal’ took the effort of dubbing it in Telugu and reaching out to a wider audience. ‘Chhaava’, also, after we saw it, we initiated a conversation with the producers. My dad (Allu Aravind) felt the movie had to be seen, and after a month or something, we released it in Telugu. By then, some steam was lost. I’m saying, like how the Hindi audience has endorsed Telugu films without any bias, Telugu audiences and even audiences in other languages, like Malayalam, Kannada, to some extent Tamil, all of them are open now to Hindi films. There is no bias. This is all internet noise. The audience doesn’t care.”

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The “Urvasivo Rakshasivo” actor says that Hindi studios should learn from Ranbir Kapoor’s “Animal.” “I think Hindi filmmakers should put more focus on releasing their content here. ‘Dhurandhar’ not being dubbed into Telugu, I think, was a huge opportunity missed. Imagine how much more business it could have done and how many more eyeballs it could have reached had it released in Telugu also. I feel like the Hindi studios should be more proactive in releasing their content here and not treat it as a one-off activity. I think they should learn a little from ‘Animal’s playbook, because the Telugu version here also collected a sizable amount. ‘Jawan’ did, and because of the hype, people here also watched it. Usually, I think around 15 to 18 per cent is South India’s contribution to the all-India net. But with ‘Jawan’ it was 28 to 31 per cent. So, I think filmmakers should invest more in dubbing their films in other languages,” adds Sirish. 

Unlike the first part, the makers are now releasing “Dhurandhar 2” in multiple dubbed languages, including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam.