How Suriya’s Ghajini made Allu Arjun reluctant about dubbing his films in Tamil: ‘I saw how an actor’s market can get killed’

For the longest time, Pushpa 2 actor Allu Arjun refrained from dubbing his Telugu films in Tamil, and releasing it in Tamil Nadu.

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | March 6, 2025 06:14 PM IST

3 min read

Allu Arjun on biggest takeaway from Suriya's Ghajini.

Today, Indian cinema, for the most part, is not bound by linguistic differences. Post the pandemic, and the opening up of markets for non-Hindi language films, many ‘regional’ stars have become pan-Indian stars. One of the stars who has transcended linguistic boundaries is Allu Arjun. Post the blockbuster success of the Pushpa films, Allu Arjun is a household name in the country. But his rise in cinema hasn’t just been a lucky turn of events, but a carefully constructed rise to the top. Any doubts? Let’s take a look at one of his 2012 interviews for Asianet ahead of the release of his film, Julayi, directed by Trivikram Srinivas.

Even as his contemporaries had their films being dubbed and released in multiple languages, Allu Arjun was very clear about his plans for the future. While his films were constantly dubbed and released in Malayalam, even earning him the moniker of Mallu Arjun, the National Award-winning actor carefully stayed away from releasing his films in Tamil. Make no mistake, just like it is now, even back then, Tamil cinema was a huge market, and it was an industry that managed to deliver huge commercial potboilers as convincingly as content-driven films, and make money off both. So, Arjun’s fascination for Tamil cinema and its market was understandable. “All credit goes to my father. For instance, be it Chiranjeevi or Nagarjuna, they did develop a market outside Telugu by delivering successes in other languages. But then, it lead to a different problem,” said Arjun.

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The understanding of this problem is why Allu Arjun has become one of the most profitable stars in Indian cinema right now. “When a film of yours runs in another market, they immediately start dumping the dubbed versions of older films in your filmography. I saw it happen with Suriya after the success of Ghajini,” said Arjun, adding, “They started releasing the dubbed versions of his older films, which were made 5-10 years ago. These might not be in the same level as Ghajini. They weren’t as upgraded in form or format. What happens with this is that it kills the actor’s market.”

Reiterating how he wanted to make a direct entry in Tamil cinema considering he stayed, studied, and grew up in Chennai, the actor said, “I held them from being dubbed because I was banking on Tamil cinema. I am very familiar with the language, and after Telugu, it is Tamil that I am very comfortable with.”

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In fact, Allu Arjun stuck by this philosophy for the longest time, and started slowly entering a market after Baahubali opened doors in a massive way for Telugu cinema in Tamil Nadu, and other states. And now, with rumours of him working in Atlee’s next doing the rounds, it might just be the realisation of a long standing dream of doing a direct Tamil film.

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