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Varun Dhawan’s Judwaa 2 to clash with Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu’s SpYder's Hindi version on Dussehra
A clash as yet unforeseen - especially after the huge success of Bahubali! Who will be the victor? Trade talks...
With the outstanding success of Bahubali and Bahubali 2 – The Conclusion, an increasing number of top South stars are vying for Hindi releases of their films across pan-India to gain a more mass appeal. This time Dussehra, (September 30) will see the clash of David Dhawan’s comedy-action-drama Judwaa 2 (starring Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez and Taapse Pannu) and AR Murugadoss’ multilingual (Telugu, Tamil and Hindi) spy action thriller SpYder (starring Mahesh Babu, Rakul Preet Singh and SJ Suryah) on September 29 as both the films are trying to cash in on a Dussehra release.
Judwaa 2 has Varun Dhawan playing a double role. SpYder, which launched its first teaser last month had taken the internet by storm, is based on bio-terrorism and will also have a Hindi release (like Baahubali) across India. The Hindi distribution rights are said to have been picked up by Arka Mediaworks (owned by Shobu Yarlagadda), who had also produced Bahubali, so trade analysts are already speculating that Judwaa 2 may have a challenging journey ahead!
Will the clash give producer Sajid Nadiadwala, David Dhawan and Varun much cause for concern? We find out from trade…
Says a trade insider, “Fox Studios has always blocked Dussehra for their releases including Bang Bang, Shaandaar and now Judwaa 2. Which is scheduled for release on 29 September 2017. It is a sequel to David Dhawan's Judwaa (1997) while in SpYder Mahesh Babu plays Shiva, an Intelligence Bureau Officer, who tries to stop a biological war and bio-terrorism in India. Buzz is that Lyca has acquired the Tamil distribution rights for Spyder for 25 crore while Shobu has picked the Hindi rights. Following the success of Bahubali, the makers of Spyder are also planning to have simultaneous releases in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi.”
Trade analyst and Complete Cinema Editor, Atul Mohan says, “As AR Murugadoss gave Bollywood its first 100-crore film in Ghajini, the clash between the two films may be interesting, but I don’t think Varun, Sajid and David have much to worry about as Mahesh Babu is not as popular as Prabhas is today post Bahubali. Varun is a Pan-India actor with mass appeal and the emerging super star of tomorrow as we all know. He is especially a craze among the youngsters of today. Judwaa was a very successful film and the combinations of Varun-David-Sajid with Salman Khan appearing in the film, makes it a big film. Mahesh Babu is not a known face in the Hindi belt though he may be bigger than Prabhas in Telugu cinema. The content of both the film will be the deciding factor in the clash. While it is true that the success of Bahubali has changed all equations and most South stars wants to have Hindi releases simultaneously too but it’s only for the big movies and not for all films.”
South distributor Tarun Tandon, MD of Indra Films, Nizam and Andhra adds, “For the South film industry, Dussehra is one of the few big festivals like Pongal, Sankranti and Ugadi and we like to release big films during these festivals. Both Judwaa 2 and SpYder are two completely different genre films. But it’s also true that AR Murugadoss is well established in Bollywood films so it will be interesting to see what happens. I feel that Bahubali was an exception and it is unfair to compare any South film to Bahubali because of the director and the scale it was made. Both films are going to do exceptionally well with equal screen space for both where multiplexes and single screens are concerned. We should not consider SpYder to be another dubbed film as the director is brilliant with a pan-Asia appeal and Mahesh Babu is one of the biggest super stars down South. Varun has been delivering back-to-back hits and catering to the masses and classes. It will be healthy competition for both."
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