Makers of Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada pay ₹8 crores to Goldmines Telefilms to not screen Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo in Hindi

Bollywood has been remaking successful South Indian films since decades. Recently, Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon signed on to star in the official Hindi remake of the Telugu-language film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020). The original film featured Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde in lead roles and turned out to be a massive money spinner at the box office.

The Hindi remake has been titled Shehzada. Filmmaker Rohit Dhawan, known for helming Desi Boyz (2011) and Dishoom (2016), is attached to direct. A major portion of the film has already been shot ahead of its release in November, 2022.

Hindi dubbed versions of South Indian films perform really well upon their premieres on television. Just like so many other South Indian films, Manish Shah of Goldmines Telefilms had obtained the rights to screen the Hindi version of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo as well. He had reportedly bought the Hindi dubbing rights of the film from the makers for a whopping ₹4 crore back in 2020.

The latest we hear is that now the makers of Shehzada have paid a staggering ₹8 crores to Shah for not screening the Hindi version of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo on television or any digital platform. It is not difficult to understand why.

“The dubbing giant was planning to bring the Hindi dubbed version of the blockbuster on TV as well as the digital world in a grand way. However, last year, he had to put all his plans to a standstill, when he discovered that a Hindi remake of this Telugu film was in the works. At first, he was upset that a Hindi remake was in the making given that all the Hindi rights rested with him and the agreement stated that the Hindi remake cannot release for at-least 6 months of the dubbing version being premiered. Seeing the development, he was all geared up to premiere the film on TV and OTT platforms, given that Allu Arjun is the undisputed king of TV and OTT when it comes to Hindi dubbed films," a source told a publication.

That’s when the makers of Shehzada got in touch with Shah with a deal. “The producers of Shehzada felt that the Hindi premiere of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo would take a major hit on the prospects of their film. So, they got into a conversation with Manish Shah and requested him to hold back on the premiere. They also offered to make him the co-producer of the Hindi remake which he declined. Manish was insisting on going ahead with the premiere, but eventually, the Shehzada team shelled out an astronomical amount of ₹8 crores to stop Manish Shah's Goldmines Telefilms from premiering the film. Several meetings between the stakeholders took place all through 2020 and 2021 at a 5-star hotel in Goregaon. Basically, Manish made a profit of ₹4 crore on his investment,” added the source.

Stay tuned to this space for more exciting updates.