Will SRK and Vijay Sethupathi in Jawan help Bollywood sail through the South box office tsunami?
Shah Rukh Khan (L) Vijay Sethupathi (R). Photo: Getty Images/ Facebook
South Indian superstar Vijay Sethupathi, who last appeared in Kaman Haasan’s Vikram, is all set to appear as a villain in Shah Rukh Khan’s commercial entertainer movie Jawan. The film will be directed by Tamil filmmaker Atlee Kumar and is expected to release by June 2023. Watch the teaser of the movie here
According to India Today, Vijay has agreed to be part of the movie. “Since Sethupathi is one of the busiest actors in India, dates are now being worked out. Soon he will join the film’s sets in Mumbai for the shooting,' India Today reported quoting their source.
Vijay is a very celebrated actor is also a recipient of several awards including the National Film award for Best Supporting Actor for his movie Super Deluxe (2019).
THE DOMINANCE OF SOUTH INDIAN MOVIES
Off late, Bollywood movies have been performing poorly. The viewers have expressed dislike for the kind of cinema that is being offered by the Hindi filmmakers. Except Kashmir Files, Gangubai Kathiawadi and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Bollywood movies have suffered losses in the first half of 2022.
For example, Akshay Kumar’s Bachchhan Pandey only made Rs 49.98 crore. His recently released Samrat Prithviraj also failed to bring audiences to the theatres and collected only Rs 64.62 crore till the 13th day.
Not only this, Ranveer Singh’s Jayeshbhai Jordaar tanked at the box office. The film could collect only Rs 15.59 crore in two weeks.
Similarly, other highly-anticipated movies of big stars fell flat at the box office with low figures. Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey collected Rs 19.68 crore, Ajay Devgn’s Runway earned Rs 32.96 crore and Kangana Ranaut’s Dhaakad collected Rs 2.58 crore.
But all through this, the Hindi versions of south Indian movies performed really well at the box office.
Prashant Neel’s KGF Chapter 2 starring Yash scripted history all across the country by earning more than Rs 434.70 crore at the box office. Same goes for SS Rajamouli’s RRR, the Hindi version of which minted Rs 274.31 crore.
Together, KGF Chapter 2 and RRR crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark.
The bar has now been further raised by Kamal Haasan’s Vikram, which has emerged as a big blockbuster movie, collecting Rs 400 crore at the box office.
WILL VIJAY SETHUPATHI AND SRK'S MAGIC WORK?
Vijay Sethupathi's performance in Vikram was highly appreciated. It is expected that the combination of Shahn Rukh and Vijay Sethupathi will end Bollywood’s dry spell.
Not only Vikram, several stars from Tamil industry will be working in Jawan. The teaser of Jawan was met with huge appreciation by the Shah Rukh Khan fans.
Shah Rukh hasn’t released a movie since Zero in 2018, and is gearing up for three back to back releases starting with Siddharth Anand’s Pathan (January 2023), Jawan (June 23) and Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki, which will release in December 2023.
Jawan also features Nayanthara and Sanya Malhotra in lead roles. The film will also have Priyamani, Yogi Babu, Simarjeet Singh Nagra, Sunil Grover and Manahar Kumar as supporting cast. Tamil’s award-winning composer Anirudh Ravichander will also be part of the project.