Salman Khan- Prabhu Deva - Pooja Hegde for Veeram remake - Priety Zinta to produce Mahesh Narayanan film

Salman Khan and Prabhu  Deva are coming back with the remake of Veeram , the Tamil film starring Thala Ajith.  Pooja Hegde is tipped to be the heroine. In yet another development , Priety Zinta is to produce a Hindi film with Malayalam director Mahesh Narayanan whose Malik - C U  Soon  was released on OTT and were hits.  

Sources say that Prabhu Deva after giving a dud with Radhe, had packed his bags and come back to Chennai. He immersed himself in completing some Tamil films and signed a new one. He is said to have told his friends that his innings in Bollywood was over after Radhe. To his surprise, he got a call from Salman Khan office to come and meet him. Khan asked Prabhu Deva to get over Radhe and direct Tamil film Veeram in Hindi, Sajid Nadiadwala who holds the rights too agreed to Salman's suggestion. Sajid is already remaking Tamil film Jigarthanda in Hindi with Akshay Kumar. Veeram is about four brothers and has a Hindu- Muslim  angle to it. The trust that Salman has reposed in the choreographer- director is something rare in filmdom. This will be the fourth time that the duo is teaming up.

Priety Zinta who has produced Talwar, Razi and Badai Ho is to produce a film based on a screenplay by award winning investigative Journalist Josy Joseph and Mahesh Narayanan. The film is an expose of the health sector in India. Mahesh Narayanan is to direct a Tamil film with screenplay by Kamal Haasan ( who will also act in it). He was to remake Take Off ( Fahad Fazil- Parvathy) in Hindi. The dubbed version is available on OTT.

The remake plan was dropped after many scenes and incidents had similarities in Salman Khan's Tiger Zinda Hai.  Take Off's Hindi version was to be produced by Jet Airways. Ironically, Josy Joseph ( who is collaborating with Mahesh) was sued for Rs 1000  crores by Jet Airways for writing  that Naresh Goyal ( founder) had links with Dawood Ibrahim in his book Feast of Vultures.

Salman Khan Radhe sets in Hollywood style release - Tamil Nadu exhibitors might not go along

Chennai, Apr22 : Salman Khan starrer Radhe release simultaneously on OTT and in theatres for Eid ( May 13) might not get backing from Tamil Nadu exhibitors . In the South, single screen theatres outnumber multiplexes.The Tamil Nadu exhibitors Association which the Multiplex theatre association too works in tandem is unlikely to agree to screen Salman Khan Radhe ( directed by Prabhudeva) along with release on pay per view on Zee Plex. Doing this will open the gates for Tamil film producers to follow suit.

The release of Surya's Soorarai Pottru on OTT first led to heavy backlash from exhibitors. The release of Vijay's Master in theatres came as a relief. The newly formed active Producer's body is rooting for producer's right to screen films on platforms of their choice and not agreed to give in writing that any film released in theatre will have a lock-in period of 50 days before release on OTT. This body had managed the digital server agencies to levy  the virtual print fee from producer's.

If the Radhe system is implemented, many producers would go in for this in Tamil Nadu. The  TN exhibitors decided to keep open the theatres despite night curfew with at least one screen functioning. Karthi's Sulthan and Dhanush Karnan is still being screened in the theatres. A few more small budget films might get released.

Sasikumar's MGR Magan which was to release coming Friday has postponed the release. Sivakarthikeyan's Doctor is said to premiere on Amazon Prime after the new restrictions came in place. The alarming spike in Covid infection cases in Tamil Nadu and 40% is accounted by Chennai.

UPDATE :Pan Indian Telugu- Kannada films under threat of Lock down coming back

Telugu filmdom and Kannada ( KGF2) Pan Indian releases will take a major hit as all major Bollywood releases including Salman's Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai directed by Prabhu Deva being postponed due to the quick spread of Covid second wave across Maharashatra. The general refrain is that decision will be taken after Holi. Big B - Emraan starrer `Chehere' along with Bunty Aur Babli 2’ and ‘Hathi Mere Sathi’ have also been postponed due to the second wave of Corona.

Radhey trailer released on March 13th was a huge hit and Salman had agreed to exhibitors for release on Eid ( May 13). Now the producers are hoping that the vaccination drive in Maha and Mumbai takes a more faster pace and puts the brakes on the spread. John Abraham Satyamey Jayate is also set for May 13 release. The news that Paresh Rawal and Sunil Gawaskar who had taken the first dose was found positive has not helped matters.

Prabha's Radhe Shyam- Salaar and  Allu Arjun's Pushpa from Tollywood will be immediately  affected if the current situation continues. Other releases in April are dependent on the AP/TS markets. The CM's of these States have ruled out any total lockdown. Other Tollywood Pan Indian movies can wait till the situation is over, since many of them are yet to finalise the business deals.

KGF2, the Kannada film is complete and the producers are still haggling to get a price bigger than Bahubaali. They might have to wait for more time. Malayalam film Marakkar will have depend on Kerala - South market as well as GCC to get  the money if it plans to release in May. Only Tamil film with Pan Indian appeal is Annathe of Rajinikanth. It is scheduled for November release.

Story published on Feb 20 :

Pan Indian films from Tollywood and KGF2 from Sandalwood might have to forgo Maharashtra especially Mumbai territory , few districts like Adilabad in Telangana that border the districts of Maharashtra which are under lock down after COVID 19 cases see a surge. The lockdown in districts that border Telangana would be a major blow to the Telugu Pan Indian release.

With 6000 cases reported yesterday, Maha Govt has said that if the trend continues, a re-imposition of lock down was inevitable. Maharashtra's district Yavatmal has its border alongside Telangana's Adilabad which had 507 cases of Covid-19 last week, with a scary 11.4 percent positivity rate. When it comes to Amravati, the district reported 2,843 cases inside a week, with a positivity rate of 56.7 percent. It has been said that the new South African strain of Covid could be responsible for such an infection.

“The northwestern districts of TS may be affected due to the movement of people near the borders and those travelling to religious places. It cannot be said how long this transmission will take, but the next three-four weeks will be crucial. The government must be alert because if this is the South African strain, it will spread faster,” Dr GVS Murthy, the director of the Indian Institute of Public Health’s Hyderabad chapter, told the New Indian Express.

It is also feared that the herd immunity acquired by the people of Telangana would not last beyond March as the majority of the infections they had were before September 2020. In our survey, we found that 75 percent of the people in the three rural districts did not have antibodies, which is a cause of concern,” Dr Avula Laxmaiah, scientist and head of Public Health at the National Institute of Nutrition, said. Mumbai city and surrounding region is the biggest contributor to COVID-19 cases. But since February 12, Akola city and district and Amravati city and district have recorded a noticeable spike, reported PTI.

Akola division, including districts of Akola, Amravati and Yavatmal, registered a sudden spike in cases. On February 12 it had a case tally of 76,207 but on Friday it increased by 6,697 and climbed to 82,904.

Hindi films will have no choice but postpone release, if lock down comes in Maha. For Telugu films, the fear comes from the Telangana districts along Maha. Lock Down in affected districts would  mean loss of revenue for Telugu films. Kerala, due to  the COVID cases hovering around 5000 per day, critically acclaimed films like Jai Surya’s Vellam and cyber crime thriller Operation Jawa are not collecting as occupancy rate is less. All eyes are on Maha Govt as to what steps it would take.