PremiumJailer Karnataka distributor bags Ravi Teja’s Tiger Nageswara Rao; sparks demand for Kannada version
Ravi Teja’s big Dasara release, Tiger Nageswara Rao, will be in theatres on October 20
Last Updated: 09.32 PM, Sep 14, 2023
Earlier this month, when rumours about Salaar’s impending postponement cropped up, it was heard that the team of Ravi Teja’s Tiger Nageswara Rao would swoop in and take up the now vacant slot. However, in the days that followed, the team clarified that it would not be possible to wind up post-production and be ready for release at such notice and decided to stick on the original plan of hitting theatres on October 20 for the Dasara festivities. The film will be one of many vying for a piece of the box office, including Vijay’s Leo, Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Bhagavanth Kesari, Shivarajkumar’s Ghost and Rakshit Shetty’s Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B.
In Karnataka, Tiger Nageswara Rao is being distributed by Venkat of AV Media through Jayanna Films, who also handled the release of Superstar Rajinikanth’s Jailer recently. Unlike Jailer, which literally had a free reign in the state and opened with over 1,200 shows, Ravi Teja’s film has a lot more competition at the box office, so it remains to be seen how wide a release it will get eventually. However, one demand that has been put across to the distributor is that adequate number of shows/screens be allocated for the film’s Kannada version. Tiger Nageswara Rao will supposedly be available in Kannada too, what with the makers having released a first look and teaser in the language. The question, though, is, how many shows/screens will the Kannada version get?
Even though Jailer’s Rs 71 crore box office revenue from the state included Rs 10 crore from the Kannada version, this came from a minute fraction of the total number of shows/screens that the film enjoyed in Karnataka. While there is a strong demand for Kannada-dubbed versions of major titles on social media, distributors often argue that the ground reality does not support such business measures. The recent Kushi and Miss Shetty Mr PoliShetty, for instance, did not get any shows for the Kannada version in Bengaluru, releasing in Telugu only.