Will Ala Vainkunthapurramuloo's theatrical release in Hindi affect the box-office of Kartik- Kriti's Shehzada?

Allu Arjun is one of the biggest stars right now all across the nation. Ask anyone, and we are pretty sure that they have watched Pushpa: The Rise. In fact, such has been the popularity of the film that it has collected 100 crores INR from North Indian Circuit itself, and the collection down south was even bigger. The film even made it to the Amul ad, alongside the Amul girl! And amidst such Allu Arjun fever, the makers of his previous film, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo decided to release the Hindi dubbed version of the film in theatres!

This could have been a happy thing and would have only deserved cheers from everyone, had it not been for Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon starrer Shehzada ! For those who don't know, Shehzada is the remake of the Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde starrer Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Naturally, this has left us feeling that the collection of the remake would be severely affected. First and foremost, Allu Arjun's swag is unmatchable. It was with his superlative performance that Pushpa became such a huge hit. Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo has the scope to outdo Pushpa. This is a film which is out-and-out masala, a full paisa-vasool film as we call it. There is comedy, tragedy, action, emotion, drama, love story and of course great music (my heart is already going 'Butta Bomma', and switches to Sitarala Sirapadu) and of course Allu Arjun's impeccable dance moves! The fact that it earned 200 crores INR should be proof enough.

The original also boasts of a solid cast- there's Tabu , there's Murali Sharma, there's Jayaram, there's Sachin Khadekar. And there's leading lady Pooja Hegde as well. And what impeccable performances by all!

On top of that, the film will hit theatres on 26th January. At a time where there is a lack of new films in theatres, this is like a whiff of fresh air for those craving to watch something new. A holiday release is like a bonus! The fact that COVID numbers are also going down in several states, including the National Capital, can only add to the biz.

In fact, the makers of Shehzada that already realised what threat Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’s Hindi dubbed version can be and had paid a whopping 8 crore INR to stop the dubbed version from releasing on OTT.

What can work in Shehzada’s favour?

Kartik Aaryan is a star in his own right and has a loyal fan following. So does Kriti Sanon who amassed new followers with the release and super success of Mimi. Both these stars have been absent from the theatres for a long time, and fans would want to see them, and experience their chemistry on the big screen.

Secondly, the dubbing has not been done by the film’s original team. It is interesting to note that Allu Arvind, who produced Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is also Shehzada’s producer. So, it is Goldmine Films who’;s releasing a dubbed version. It is smaller in scale, and meant to go with the flow of Allu Arjun fever. However, the fact that word of mouth can be strong (c’mon, that’s exactly how Kartik rose to stardom, isn’t it?) cannot be overlooked.

Here, one can only hope that Shehzada won’t be a scene by scene copy of the original (like Kabir Singh). If it has new elements, the audience would want to see it.

But, all being said, comparisons are bound to happen, now on a bigger scale as the scope of the original to reach to more masses has been made possible. One can only hope that the gap between the releases will work in the favour of Shehzada, and that this Kartik-Kriti film would not be a scene to scene copy of the original!