Ever since SS Rajamouli's Baahubali broke records beyond regional boundaries, “Prabhas, Pan Indian Release and Profitable Pre-release Business” have become synonyms. The actor's upcoming ambitious venture Radhe Shyam written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar co-stars Pooja Hegde and other prominent actors like Sachin Khedekar, Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Bhagyashree, Murli Sharma and Sathyaraj. The film features Prabhas in a whole new avatar as a palmist named Vikram Aditya, revolving around the universal theme “love” and how destiny can change his fate with the love of his life, Prerna.
Radhe Shyam doesn't just promise a one of a kind love story to the audience but also yet another much awaited recovery of the theatrical business in India. The film which was reportedly made on a Rs 300 crore budget is expected to have a two-week theatrical run with little to no competition across India. According to AndhraBoxOffice.com, the theatrical rights of Radhe Shyam has fetched Rs 210 crores, of which, selling distribution rights in the Telugu states alone contribute to more than 100 crores. The film is set to benefit from the new revised ticket prices in Andhra Pradesh. Many members of the Telugu film industry had objected to the lowered ticket rates previously fixed by the state government back in April 2021. The prices have now been revised which is an increase from the previous rates , also making exceptions based on the budget of the film. For movies that are made with a production cost of more than Rs 100 crore, the government will notify separate rates for a period of 10 days from the date of release on a case to case basis.
Prabhas in his Facebook post has expressed his gratitude on how the state's order on the movie tickets is supportive to Radhe Shyam.
Prabhas' last pan India release Saaho received a mixed critical reception across India, however the film performed well commercially, minting around Rs 424 crore in just two weeks at the box office worldwide. The production company UV Creations tweeted verifying the same in September 2019. According to trade analyst Ramesh Bala, the film collected a net share of Rs 153 crore at the end of three weeks of its theatrical run. Radhe Shyam is expected to better than Saaho since it is a love story, and the theatrical ticket rates are now in favour of the multi-crore film. Also, Prabhas' new film is reportedly releasing in over 5000 screens in India alone.
The makers Radhe Shyam have adapted to the current marketing trends by launching NFTs and releasing the trailer in Metaverse, a three-dimensional virtual ecosystem for social connections. The excitement for the film has peaked to another level with Prabhas' latest Instagram post where he thanks Amitabh Bachchan, Shiva Rajkumar, SS Rajamouli and Prithviraj Sukumaran for becoming narrators for the film’s Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam versions, respectively.
With just one day left for Radhe Shyam's release and eyeballs from across the globe on it, will Prabhas continue to prove that he is a bankable pan Indian star? We might get the answer tomorrow itself.
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