Tamil star Suriya has surpassed his colleagues and leading stars Rajinikanth and Vijay by drawing Rs 25 crores for Telugu dubbing rights of his upcoming film ‘Kanguva’. “This time, Suriya has overtaken Rajinikanth whose last release ‘Vettaiyan’ has been bought for Rs 16 crore, while Vijay’s film ‘GOAT’ was sold for Rs 17 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, so Suriya is way ahead,” says a distributor who adds, “However, the task to recover such huge investment in the Telugu states during non-festival and non-holiday season, would be task by itself,” he adds. The film is slated for release in mid-November after the completion of the Dussehra and Diwali holidays, “His warrior movie was supposed to release on October 10 on the eve of Dussehra but Suriya withdrew from the clash when Rajinikanth film ‘Vettaiyan’ was arriving on the same date.
Hope it doesn’t cost him dearly in Telugu states now,’ he points out. “Telugu dubbing rights of his earlier movies were pegged around Rs 10 or 12 crores each but this tribal action adventure has triggered big hype and also fancy price too,” he adds. He claims Suriya's market expanded in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana after big hits like ‘Ghajini’, ‘Veedokkade’, and the much bigger hit ‘Singham’.
“Thereafter his films failed to set the box office on fire among Telugu viewers as films like ‘Seventh Sense’, ‘24’ and 'Brothers' couldn’t draw more eyeballs and gradually he lost his market.