That the audience has changed now is evident in the box office failure of big budget remakes with prominent stars, especially in Hindi. “Not just Vikram Vedha, remakes like Jersey (2022) and Lal Singh Chaddha (2022) have not done well either. These are big films with notable names, and when they flop, we have to start wondering if remakes work in the current scenario,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh said.
Pawan Kalyan-starrer Bheemla Nayak (2022), the Telugu remake of the Malayalam action thriller Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), is among the few films to have bucked the trend of remakes flopping. The film, which was made on a bigger and ‘massier’ scale than the original, reportedly made over with a budget of Rs 75 crore.
Film industry tracker Ramesh Bala attributed the success of Bheemla Nayak to Pawan Kalyan’s star power. “In the Malayalam original, the two men who fight it out are on the same footing. But in the Telugu version, the film is titled after Pawan Kalyan’s character and the other person doesn’t receive as much importance. In the south, star culture is very much alive and a remake with a big star still has the potential to do well because they have a wide and loyal fanbase,” he said.
On the other hand, a small film without a big star may struggle to find an audience, especially if it is remade within the southern industries. “A person in Chennai is more likely to watch a Malayalam original film than a Hindi one. So if there isn’t a star factor to attract them to theatres, they will prefer to watch a south Indian film in its original version on OTT,” said Bala.