Producer Dil Raju opens up about his films with Vijay and Shahid Kapoor. The size of the audience for the Telugu movies has grown significantly in the last few years, creating an opportunity for ambitious film producers like Dil Raju to expand their footprint across the country. Dil Raju is now bankrolling two tentpole movies, including one with Tamil superstar Vijay. He also aims to join the bandwagon of “pan-India” filmmakers with these two movies.
“After Baahubali 1 and 2, there have been a lot of changes in the market. And today cinema has become truly global. If you have the right content, you can take it anywhere you want. For a long time, I wanted to venture into the Hindi market and I got that entry with Jersey. And also I have HIT remake in Hindi. Both the films are ready. We tried to make these Hindi remakes better than what we did in Telugu. I think Jersey is one of the best Hindi films (I have seen),” he said during an interview with TV5 news.
He is bankrolling director Shankar’s next which stars Ram Charan in the lead. Vijay’s next is helmed by Telugu director Vamshi Paidipally. And this crossover combination has already expanded the size and the scope of the audience.
“We are shooting Shankar’s film originally in Telugu and planning to dub it in Tamil and Hindi and give it a pan-India release. It’s a typical Shankar film. It’s both lavish and high on content. It’s not just for a regional audience, everyone will like it. We have finished two schedules of it already,” he revealed.
Dil Raju is also quite upbeat about his film with Vijay and Vamshi Paidipally. “It’s a beautiful story. I thought it was one of the best stories I have heard. When Vijay sir heard the narration, he told us that he hadn’t heard a story like this in 20 years. To hear those words from a star hero is a great feeling. Vamshi is still working on the story. We are planning to start shooting in March,” he said.
“I will have two films ready for release (next year). I want to release Shankar sir’s film for Sankranti and Vijay’s for Deepavali,” he added.
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