‘Expected’: Rajamouli on RRR’s clash with ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘Radhe Shyam’

The three-way clash between Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’, Alia Bhatt’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, and Prabhas’ ‘Radhe Shyam’ was described by the filmmaker as an ‘expected bottleneck’ brought about by the pandemic. During a visit to Mumbai on Friday, the filmmaker announced a new collaboration with PVR cinemas. Ajay Devgn, Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn star in ‘RRR’, which will compete with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Radhe Shyam’ in January 2022.

In regard to the clash, Rajamouli said, ‘The clash won’t hamper the business. Even if four films come together, if they are good, people are going to come to watch all of them. There have been multiple instances in the past when this has happened.’

A bottleneck was created by the pandemic, he said. ‘Because of the times we are in, with the pandemic and everything being shut for more than one and a half years, a bottleneck was expected. But if your content is good, it doesn’t matter how many films come together. People are going to come no matter what. They’ll be spoilt for choice.’

Prabhas appeared in Rajamouli’s last two films: ‘Bahubali 2: The Conclusion’ (2017) and ‘Bahubali: The Beginning’ (2015). Now the actor’s upcoming film Radhe Shyam will also be released in January 2022, the month ‘RRR’ releases. Rajamouli responded, ‘Not just this, there are many films that are going to come. I certainly hope and wish all the films are good, all the films make money, make the audience excited and happy. This is the time where we can’t say my film has to do well, their film can’t do well. This is the time for all of us to come together and say, think and feel that all films should make money.’

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In addition, Rajamouli spoke about his decision to release ‘RRR as a theatrical release, even if that meant waiting for the cinemas to reopen. ‘I make films only for theatres, for the audience to come together, watch the film together. The way I operate is to see a large number of audience members sitting inside a cinema hall to experience a film. So, the decision was very easy for me, there was no dilemma in that.’

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has certified Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, and Alia Bhatt’s ‘RRR’ as an AU movie. On January 7, the film will be released in theaters around the world.