Director Jis Joy said that he went to Thiruvananthapuram and dubbed without any hope when the movie 'Arya' came in 2007 Since Allu Arjun's debut film Arya, he has been voiced by Jis in Malayalam.
The growth of Allu Arjun’s stardom in Kerala, where no Telugu star has ever enjoyed a major fan base, is largely thanks to the efforts of Khader Hassan, a small-time producer from Thiruvananthapuram, who brought Arjun’s Arya to Kerala. He produced a dubbed version and released it across the major centers in the State through his distribution company, Redak Media.
“I did not foresee his stardom,” says Hassan. “He was a lesser-known actor then. But I felt Arya had the potential to be a super hit. It’s a highly energetic film, and Allu was so energetic. There was no such actor in Malayalam at that time – young and energetic, whom family audiences and youngsters could love, like Vijay in Tamil. Allu had that charm,” he adds.
Hassan started off as a producer in Mollywood. The first two films he produced – Swapnam Kondu Thulabharam and Nakshathra Kannulla Rajakumaran – flopped at the box-office, eroding his finances. That prompted him to change tracks, and try his hand at films in another language. “Once, when I was in Chennai, I happened to watch on TV a song from the Telugu film Nuvve Nuvve. It was very cute, as were the visuals. I thought youngsters in Kerala might love this film. That was in 2001. I didn’t exactly research the market. I bought the dubbing rights, gathered a team of writers and voice-over artists and got the work done,” he says.
Nuvve Nuvve became Pranayamaay. Satheesh Muthukulam wrote the dialogues, and Rajeev Alunkal, then a novice, handled the lyrics. “We would sit together and discuss how the lyrics and dialogues had to be. I didn’t want them to sound awkward,” says Hassan, who already had a distribution agency in Kerala; it made theatrical release easy. “We promoted the film like we would promote a film starring newcomers.” Pranayamaay was followed by films such as Nilaavu Pole, a dubbed version of Ela Cheppanu, starring Tharun and Shriya. Hassan also brought to Kerala Happy Days, a campus film by Shekhar Kammula, starring a bunch of fresh faces. The film became popular in the State.
But, it was Allu Arjun’s films such as Arya, Happy, Bunny and Krishna that turned Hassan’s fortunes. The industry would agree that Allu Arjun’s stardom in Kerala was largely shaped by Hassan, who registered fans’ associations for the actor to promote his films. The first unit was registered in Vellanad area of Thiruvananthapuram in 2006. At present, the Telugu star has over 300 such units in the State.
“I chalked out a market plan for Allu Arjun. I knew it was important to create a superstar for the dubbed films to be superhits. So, I took the initiative to form fans’ associations for Allu. We distributed over 15,000 ID cards under the banner of Allu Arjun Fans Association in 2003.”
The response was great. Famed voice artist Jismon Joy, now an established filmmaker with three movies to his credit, was chosen to be Allu’s voice in Arya after a massive audition. The makers were looking for a soft, youthful voice for the actor whose forte was boyish characters, and Jismon fit in perfectly.
Jismon continues to dub for Allu Arjun, although Hassan no longer distributes the actor’s films in Kerala. “Allu’s fans tell me that they can’t imagine another voice for the actor,” says Jismon.
Hassan notes that although a section of the Malayali audience does not accept the gravity-defying action that is common in Telugu commercial films, another section of youth enjoys it. “See the number of youngsters registered in various fans’ associations of Allu Arjun across Kerala,” he says.
When Hassan started producing and distributing dubbed films, the concept of satellite rights wasn’t very prevalent. Television channels had not yet proliferated. Surya and Asianet, the two powerful players, were not willing to air dubbed films. Now, all of them telecast dubbed films, especially those starring Allu.
“After a few films, I became a familiar name in Tollywood. I received an offer to make a dubbed version of films such as Eega and Mirchi. Prabhas wanted me to take up the dubbing of a few of his films,” says Hassan, adding that he lost the opportunity to take up Baahubali because he was working on his directorial. “That was a foolish decision,” he says.
It’s been over five years since Hassan produced a dubbed film. In January, he released Njanum Ente Sreeyum, the dubbed version of Oh My Friend, starring Siddharth, Shruti Haasan and Hansika, which was released in Telugu in 2011. “I bought the dubbing rights the same year, but there was a delay in release,” he says. Hassan’s last major release was in 2012 when he distributed Gajapokkiri. He took a break for his directorial debut Friendship, which released in 2016.
Hassan’s directorial debut Friendship, which he had also produced, sank at the box-office without a trace in 2015. The film had a youthful cast and was made on the lines of Telugu entertainers such as Happy Days. However, Hassan missed the point that the new generation wave had transformed Malayalam cinema beyond recognition from what it used to be in the first decade of the 21st Century. The failure of the film devastated Hassan who had already incurred a financial loss from the distribution of a few dubbed films.
“I was very ambitious when I started out. I dreamt about changing the industry and making a mark. I don’t know if I have done anything at all. Sometimes, I feel I have accomplished nothing,” says Hassan.
source; https://dhruvam.wordpress.com/2020/03/04/the-triumph-of-allu-arjun-how-kerala-fell-in-love-with-a-star-kid-from-telugu-cinema/
Published on Silverscreen.in on March 18, 2018
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