Filmmaker Karan Johar has shelled out a record-breaking sum to obtain the Hindi remake rights of Telugu film Dear Comrade, starring Vijay Deverakonda. According to a Bollywood Hungama report, the prolific producer paid Rs 6 crore - the highest ever for a south film - to secure the rights.

It is being implied that Karan’s decision was made in lieu of the massive success of Kabir Singh, a remake of Deverakonda’s Arjun Reddy, which has turned out to be the biggest Bollywood hit of 2019. Several reports have compared Dear Comrade to Arjun Reddy.

The report quoted a source as saying, “Vijay Deverakonda was the lead in Arjun Reddy, the film which catapulted him to stardom. Kabir Singh was this remake of this film. Vijay is also the lead in Dear Comrade and this film seems a bit in the Arjun Reddy zone. The Dear Comrade trailer indicates that Vijay is the brash, impulsive college student who falls for a girl and then suffers an extreme heartbreak. Hence, both films have an uncanny resemblance.”

The source continued, “The producers of Bollywood realised that if Kabir Singh can earn close to Rs. 277 crore that too with Shahid Kapoor, then Dear Comrade’s Hindi remake will also have the potential to score big time.”

After watching Dear Comrade, Karan had tweeted, “Had the pleasure to be the first to see Dear Comrade. What a powerful and intense love story! Top notch performances by Vijay and Rashmika Mandanna. The film is exceptionally moving and leaves you with such an important and relevant message.”

As expected, Karan wasn’t the only one after the rights. The source continues, “Along with Karan Johar, Sajid Nadiadwala, Bhushan Kumar, Murad Khetani and Vijay Galani were also bidding. But KJo got the rights as he agreed to pay Rs. 6 crore. The other producers decided to back out on hearing this figure. Also, KJo has been friends with Vijay and that must have also helped. No remake rights of a South film have ever been sold for such an amount. Not even of commercial and family entertainers like Temper (remade as Simmba) or Muni 2: Kanchana (being remade as Laxmmi Bomb).”

Karan in the past has ‘presented’ the south smash hits Baahuabli: The Conclusion and 2.0 in Bollywood, both to massive success. Farhan Akhar secured the distribution rights of KGF, while Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series won the rights for Saaho.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

First Published: Jul 28, 2019 12:05 IST