Shravan Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 2, 2018)

After a leading turn opposite Tiger Shroff in Sajid Nadiadwala’s Baaghi 2, Disha Patani is now gearing up to play the titular role of warrior-princess Sangamithra in filmmaker Sundar C’s next. The ambitious project was introduced at the Cannes Film Festival last year by its then leading lady, Shruti Haasan, who eventually opted out.

Sangamithra makers had announced in October 2017, that Disha had come on board but this was followed by reports that the film had been put on a backburner. However, Mirror has now learnt that the period-drama, bankrolled by Hema Rukmani, is set to go on the floors in July. Initially scheduled to take off in January, it was pushed ahead in light of Disha’s work commitments.

“The film will be on the lines of SS Rajamouli’s period-drama Baahubali and will release in two parts,” informed a source close to the development.

Mounted on a budget of Rs 400 crore, Sangamithra is set in the 8th century AD and also features Tamil stars Jayam Ravi and Arya in the lead. The makers plan to release the film in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi simultaneously and have asked Disha to give a chunk of her dates for a year.

“Shooting will take place in Hyderabad on sets very similar to Baahubali. It will be filmed on a grand scale and if everything goes according to plan, the first part will be unveiled next year,” added the source.

The first poster was unveiled at the 70th Cannes Film Festival last May. This was followed by regular updates on Shruti’s prep for the period drama which included training in fights, in partucular sword-fighting in London. The actress eventually backed out on account of delays. In a recent interview to Mirror, Disha had revealed that she too will be training in sword fighting as part of her build-up to the action-adventure.


The first Sangamithra poster

Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 17, 2017)

This is what happens when a biggie does out of the world business and then many in the industry decide to follow suit and try to replicate the success of its predecessors. The Hindi version of Baahubali 2 is the highest grossing film of all times, beating even Dangal. With the film finding mega success coming its way, other South films are also hoping that they will be able to replicate its success.

One from the past
One such film is Kadamban, which is now seeing a re-release in Hindi. This, when it hadn’t really done any spectacular business in Tamil, its original language. “The film, which features Arya in the lead, is about tribal inhabitants trying to save their forest from a businessmen who wants to extract natural resources from there,” says a source.

No Pan-India appeal
The subject was not appealing to the region where the film was based, leave aside carrying an all India appeal. Even in Tamil when it was released, the reviews were just about decent. Its business too was so-so. “Still, the film has managed to attract buyers who are willing to release the film in Hindi now,” informs our source. In Tamil, the film was released on April 14. Neither the film’s hero Arya, nor the leading lady Catherine Tresa has any following amongst pan-India audience.

Touted as ‘epic action’ flick
“Perhaps the ones who are backing the Hindi version believe that since Prabhas was not a known face either and still managed to attract audiences with Baahubali 2, they would be able to strike gold with Kadamban too,” an observer comments, “This is the reason why they are so excited about it that they are even tagging it as one of the ‘Biggest Tamil Action Films of the year’ and also an ‘Epic action’ flick. Of course going by the promo, the film indeed has a wide canvas. However, after Baahubali 2, everything looks pretty small in comparison. Moreover, it is hardly ‘epic’ in either scale or treatment.”

Will Kadamban find a place?
The theatrical release in Hindi is being planned for June 16. “Again, it will be interesting to see how vast would its release actually be and how much will it actually be able to do in Hindi,” a trade expert adds, “June 16 also sees the release of Yash Raj Films’ Bank Chor and Guest Iin London. Moreover, there is also Diljit Dosanjh’s Punjabi film Super Singh. Where will Kadamban find a place for itself? There is practically a week ahead of it since Salman Khan’s Tubelight arrives on 23rd June.”

A successful biggie has time and again led to many hopefuls who try to replicate the phenomenon. Last time around, the team of Anushka Shetty and Rana Daggubati arrived with the Hindi dubbed version Rudhramadevi just a few months later. The film tanked without making any mark whatsoever.