Suddenly everybody is talking about how Bollywood is feeling insecure by the humongous success of south Indian films being dubbed in Hindi. Even though essentially three films — Pushpa: The Rise, RRR and KGF: Chapter 2 — have struck gold at the ticket windows across territories, they were enough to threaten the prospects of a Hindi film releasing simultaneously. While the Allu Arjun-starrer took many by surprise, SS Rajamouli’s period saga coming after the mammoth blockbuster Baahubali was bound to over-run any competition at the ticket windows. However, one man realised the true potential of the Prashanth Neel directorial venture starring Kannada actor, Yash. Aamir Khan was the only person who knew beforehand that KGF: Chapter 2 would create a tsunami at the national box office, swear industry insiders. Bollywood’s Mr Perfectionist quietly went about booking an alternate release date for his next, Laal Singh Chaddha. By the collections of the KGF sequel, one can gauge that it would have been a near-impossible task for another film releasing on the same day to match up. Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey, initially slated to open in cinemas along with the Yash-starrer on April 14, was deferred by a week and the result is there for all to see. The remake of the 2019 Telugu hit of the same name, which collected nearly R14 crore in the opening weekend, on its first Monday, registered less than half the first Friday’s figures and never recovered, despite mostly  glowing reviews. On the other hand, KGF: Chapter 2 continued to rake in good moolah in its second week. 

Pan-India not for pan masala