Hopeful for Rajamouli's Telugu blockbuster Chatrapathi’s Hindi remake, says PEN Studios’ Jayantilal Gada

After the great win for RRR song ‘Naatu Naatu’ in the Best Original Song category at the Oscars 2023, Hindi film industry producers are yet again betting big on Telugu remakes. The official Hindi remake of SS Rajamouli's Telugu blockbuster 'Chatrapathi' is all set for its nationwide release in May 2023 and its producer Jayantilal Gada is hopeful that the film will be received well by the Hindi-speaking belt. 

“It will be a big theatrical release. My view is positive for the Bollywood industry. People will be driven to the theatres on the back of big films and unique subjects. Big films like Drishyam and Pathaan are already a commercial success. This means people are willing to come back to the theatre if your content is also exciting enough for them,” Jayantilal Gada, Chairman and Founder, Popular Entertainment Network India, also known as Pen Studios said.

He said that he’s backing the new talent Bellamkonda Sreenivas who is making his foray into the Hindi film industry with the remake of Chatrapathi. The film's shoot has already been completed and is directed by VV Vinayak. The original movie starring Prabhas talked about the exploitation faced by immigrants who come to India and live without any official identity.

“We have full confidence in our movie industry. You need to give people a good experience. They don’t care whether it’s a 50 crore or a 500-crore film. They understand which content they can’t wait for (to come to OTT) and which they want to see in a theatre. It’s a business where you fail 90 per cent of the times but everyone has to take their bets. Another new talent we’re betting on is Thakur Anoop Singh,” he added.

Thakur Anoop Singh, too, will star in the remake of the 2017 Tamil action film S3 that has actors like Suriya, Anushka Shetty and Shruti Haasan in lead roles. “This remake will be a surprise for the audiences,” Gada said.

“It’s ultimately about the content; when remakes were not working, we said it’s because people have already watched it on OTT. But now they’re working. The right audience should be targeted while making a film. South Indian remakes have worked in the past and will continue to work in the future; just the North Indian market has to be kept in mind while making them,” he said.

Last year, Pen Studios distributed films like RRR (Hindi version), Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan-starrer Vikram Vedha, Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I, Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur’s Sita Ramam, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon’s Bhediya  and Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus, starring Ranveer Singh amongst others.