Gen Y stars jump into multi-starrer bandwagon

Although, the senior league of actors like Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Venkatesh and Nagarjuna were reluctant to share screen space in the last two decades, the  new generation stars like Nani, Vishnu Manchu, Rana, Varun Tej, Nithiin and Vijay Devarakonda are open to join hands with seasoned stars like Venkatesh and Nagarjuna as well as with their peers. 

“Nani is the most-happening star and was game for a multi-starrer after doing solo hero films,” says director Sriram Adithya who has roped in Nagarjuna for a multi-starrer to be produced by Aswini Dutt. “Nagarjuna is a sportive person and liked the idea of working with Nani since both the roles are well-defined and enhance their established image,” adds Sriram. 

Even Vishnu Manchu who shared screen space with Raj Tharun in ‘Eedo Rakam Aado Rakam’ is open to work with other young actors if ‘the right script comes his way’. Hotshot Rana is planning to work with his peer Varun Tej in a multi-lingual film ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’. “Talks are on but nothing is fixed yet,” says source, close to the unit, followed by reigning star Nithin who has agreed to do a multi-starrer with director Praveen Sattaru. “Multi-starrers are a win-win situation for both stars and producers. 

Legendary actors like NTR, ANR, Krishna and Sobhan Babu didn’t mind doing it since it was mostly a guaranteed winner. With fans of both the stars thronging theatres, producers and distributors will be assured of good returns and profits as well. It is good that stars like Nani, Vijay Devarakonda and Nithiin are looking to explore multi-starrers as an option, apart from their regular movies, to expand the market of Telugu cinema,’’ says producer Bandla Ganesh.

Citing an example of how a two-hero film works arithmetically, producer Nallamalapu Bujji says “If a film of Nani rakes in moolah of Rs 30 crore and Nagarjuna film around Rs 20-plus crore. 

With both together, the collections are expected touch Rs 60 to 70 crore and it could surpass the magic figure of Rs 100 crore, if the film turns out to be a blockbuster. Invariably, putting more money into the hands of producers, distributors and exhibitors to usher in a golden era,” concludes Bujji.