Bollywood used to own the Indian box office with hit franchises such as Dhoom, Don, and other big-budget action thrillers. At the center of it all was the Dhoom franchise, which spanned three installments from 2004 until 2013 and was among the biggest action franchises in the country. However, in the past 10 years, we have seen Hindi cinema go from such an emphasis on franchise-based action blockbusters to a slowdown , while Telugu cinema has slowly expanded into the pan-India space after the success of Baahubali.
As things began to shift, large production houses from Bollywood began approaching Telugu stars in order to expand their market and take advantage of the booming popularity in the South . Although this has definitely not always been a smooth trend. Several Telugu actors who began taking on Hindi work either had unsuccessful or disappointing films ; Ram Charan’s Zanjeer, Prabhas’ Adipurush, and more recently Jr. NTR’s War 2, were disappointments at the box office and also led to members of the Telugu public questioning how their stars were being positioned in these films.
A new update has surfaced around Dhoom 4, the film that is supposedly under development at Yash Raj Films (YRF). Now, according to sources, YRF has wanted to reignite the franchise with Ranbir Kapoor at the helm. To garner exposure, it looked to the Telugu film industry, offering a leading actor who is basking in the success of a recent blockbuster that captured the voice of the whole country. The star, apparently, has turned it down politely.
This is not the first time, however, that he has withdrawn from a Bollywood project. Previously, the same actor was approached for a cameo in Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan, which was ultimately given to Sanjay Dutt after he declined the offer. After this pass, a young Telugu star was approached next for Dhoom 4 but is also said to have declined.
The top Telugu actors no longer see Bollywood as the benchmark for national recognition. Telugu films like Pushpa, RRR , and Baahubali have multiplied the national viewing audience on their own terms, giving South stars the ability to select projects carefully for the role and their image, as opposed to simply doing Hindi films .
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