RRR’s success and what it means for Ram Charan: Decoding the actor’s brand value, next move

The actor, who was reportedly not very inclined towards brand endorsements earlier, has now signed six-seven brands across India including the likes of Parle Agro, Hero MotorCorp, Meesho and Disney Plus Hotstar alongside a few local Telugu brands. With Ram becoming an internationally recognised face, brands are keen to capitalise his fame.

The change in his brand value is certainly not limited to just endorsements, Ram has also changed his remuneration. While the blockbuster success of RRR, Ram has reportedly increased his fees to Rs 100 crore per film, which brings him to the league of big names like Akshay Kumar and Prabhas.

Producer and ad guru Pritish Nandy believes that it’s not about Ram being on the top of his game, but RRR being in the news. Talking about the brand value of Ram, Pritish tells indianexpress.com, “Ram Charan is getting endorsement not because he is a peak of his career. He has many more peaks to conquer but the fact is that RRR is in the news. It went to the Oscars and got so much coverage. His visibility and acceptability has enhanced. Now you can no longer call him a ‘Telugu star’. You cannot just call him a South Indian or pan-Indian star. He is now an internationally recognised face and that is a large landscape to cover.”

Asserting that the actors from South are in here for the long run, Pritish also says that an actor’s face on a hoarding cements the idea of success in the minds of the audience. “I don’t know weather the stars of South will appeal to Hindi heartland but I think they are conquering more and more ground everyday. Therefore once the brand starts acknowledging them, their commercial value will increase because that is the starting point for them. When brands start putting you up on the hoardings, that is when people realise that the commercial value of the actor has vastly enhanced,” he says.

Ram, son of megastar Chiranjeevi, already had a fan following when he started cinema but as he proved himself with films like Magadheera and Rangasthalam, his face, even in the dubbed versions of his Telugu films, was a star attraction, which now serves as a spring board for him to reach new heights.

Film critic and trade expert Jeevi shares his thoughts on Ram’s journey and says, “When he made his debut, he inherited Chiranjeevi’s legacy. Before Ram Charan started acting, Chiranjeevi had done 149 films. Basically, they promoted Ram Charan not like a debutant or first-timer, but his film as the 150th film of Chiranjeevi.

Talking about Ram’s career graph, he adds, “His next big film was Magadheera, which broke all records and after that he has been doing pretty good. The film which took him to next level was Rangasthalam and after that the next milestone is RRR. Probably many people outside of Telugu speaking states know him because of his previous films, which are dubbed and watched all over, especially in South East Asia and countries with Muslim population like in Bangladesh and Afghanistan. He was a known face but the success RRR has brought him is unprecedented.”

He has also been able to leverage the buzz created by RRR to increase his brand value. Along with Jr NTR, Ram also went to various countries like Japan and the USA, appeared on chat shows and met the who’s who of the industry.”

Ram is currently shooting for RC15 with director Shankar, another filmmaker known for making grand cinema. As expectations from Ram are soaring, the pressure on him to maintain the success of RRR is also high.

Film trade analyst Atul Mohan believes that going forward, Ram will have to deliver films with at least Rs 300 crore box office collection. He says, “Ram Charan is a fantastic actor, he has got a boost like a rocket. With endorsements and remuneration, he has become one of the most sought after actors today.” However Atul is quick to compare Ram with actor Prabhas, who became a superstar after SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali franchise.

“Prabhas became an overnight sensation with Baahuabli but unfortunately when you do a big film, with a big maker, your upcoming films will be compared to that. That pressure will always be on them. People will not remember that it was Rajamouli’s film and this is someone else’s film. If RRR has done a business of Rs 500 crore, Ram will always have the pressure of giving business of at least Rs 300 crore with his films. He will have to continuously give a film like that every 3-4 years. Comparison with RRR will always be there.”

Keeping in mind the journey ahead for Ram, Jeevi shares two options for the actor. He says, “Probably he should do either one of the two things — he can either work with a very big production house locally or go international by building on contacts forged through RRR promotions. So, if a film is well made, it will make a lot of money and buzz. So, they shouldn’t be worried about anything but focus on stories, good direction and budget.”