Lokah Beats Kantara in OTT / Rajamouli Gets Varanasi Title

 Kantara Chapter1 OTT viewership in South opening week is way behind Lokah. Lokah Hindi has been released but Kanata Hindi OTT has not got a release. Taking that Kantara a Kannada film that dubed into South and Hindi languages and is termed the highest-grossing Indian film of the year worldwide with Rs. 799 crore after the 5th weekend, ahead of Rs. 786 crore of Chhaava. It will be crossing Rs. 800 crore worldwide in no time, OTT reception in South is a surprise. Kantara Chapter 1 performed very strongly in Tamil Nadu right from day 1, and it even impacted Dhanush’s Idli Kadai, and it also joined the 70 Cr gross club, which is almost the closing collections for the film. 

This is the 6th non-Tamil film to collect more than 70 Cr gross in Tamil Nadu. Baahubali 2 is the first one to do this, followed by KGF 2, RRR, Avatar 2, Pushpa 2, and now Kantara Chapter 1, which performs superbly in Tamil Nadu. The film had a sort of crash in South India after digital release, with a drop from the previous weekend being around 70 per cent. That is despite a big holiday on Saturday in Karnataka. Without this holiday, the drop would have been closer to 75 per cent. The hold was better in Hindi at around 60 per cent, but even this was a bit higher than normal.

Two big blockbusters of the year, Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra and Kantara: Chapter 1, were released on the same day on Jio Hotstar and Prime Video, respectively. While the former is a superhero film headlined by Kalyani Priyadarshan, the latter is a folklore action drama spearheaded by Rishab Shetty.

Lokah has now overtaken Kantara: Chapter 1 in the opening weekend in the digital space. According to the latest report in Ormax, Lokah registered 3.8 million views (Data considered between October 27 to November 2), whereas Kantara: Chapter 1 garnered 3.5 million views in the same timeframe.

Kantara: Chapter 1 is yet to be released in Hindi on OTT. On the other hand, Lokah is streaming in multiple languages, including Hindi, and that could be a key reason behind the superhero film’s dominance on the OTT charts.

Bollywood Hungama has learned that the team of the film has locked a title. A source told us, “The name of the film is indeed Varanasi. It is said that the title rights were with somebody, but S S Rajamouli’s team reached out and secured the rights.”

The source further said, “It is an apt title as per the story of the film. Hence, they were very keen on naming their film Varanasi.”

Reports also state that a grand announcement event will be held on November 15 in Ramoji Rao Film City, Hyderabad. Along with S S Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran, the others from the team of the film are expected to be present, including Oscar-winning music director M M Keeravani. It is reported that fans will get a chance to attend the launch event and that the event will be live streamed on JioHotstar.

• A smaller production house, "Ramabhakta Hanuman Creations," headed by director CH Subba Reddy, claims to have already registered the title Varanasi for their own film. They have released an official poster with the title and expressed their intention to proceed with their project, creating a title clash.
• The Conflict: The smaller production house has challenged Rajamouli's team, demanding they either change their film's title or compensate them. It is currently a matter of industry speculation whether Rajamouli's team will negotiate, use a title extension (e.g., Varanasi: The Untold), or if this is part of a promotional strategy. 

Legal Context

Generally, a film title alone is not protected under copyright law in India; protection often relies on trademark law and actual use (acquiring a "secondary meaning"). The trade associations have their own rules for title registration, but these are not always binding in court on non-members. Given that Rajamouli's team reportedly secured the rights, and their film is a large-scale global project with significant buzz, they may be in a stronger position

WHy Rajamouli spend Rs 50 crores to build Varanasi in Hyderabad / Srinidhi in AK film ?

 

Rajamouli’s Film Surpasses Devdas’s Expenditure!

To date, the reported price of the costliest set of the Indian Cinema was Devdas, spending around 20 crore of its budget on the sets! Interestingly, out of this 20 crore, 12 crore were spent to create Chandramukhi’s Kotha!

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo!

After SSMB29 & Devdas, the third most costly set of Indian Cinema was created for Salman Khan‘s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo! A whopping amount of 15 crore was spent to create sets for the royal family drama!

Kalank!

A fictional city reflecting the pre-Independence era was created for Dharma Productions’ magnum opus Kalank. The film had a beautiful set, though it was too beautiful to be real! The set was created for 15 crore!

Jodha Akbar!

Ashutosh Gowariker spend 12 crore to create the sets of Jodha Akbar! The film was based on the life of the Mughal Emperor Akbar and his Rajput wife, Jodha Bai!

To know about earlier units that filmed at Varanasi read this link ; https://redscarabtravelandmedia.wordpress.com/tag/films-shot-in-varanasi/

Excerpts from a boatman ;

‘That’s Meer Ghat, associated with Meerabai. That’s where Shabana Azmi’s English film was going to be shot… but they were chased away,’ said Gorakh referring to Deepa Mehta’s Water. ‘Why?’ ‘Arrey, it was on a sensitive subject – Indian widows. There is a widow house right there… below Ganapathi Guest House. You have to keep in mind local sentiments.’

‘It’s only a film and eventually they shot it… in Sri Lanka’, we countered, defending artistic freedom. ‘Hardly surprising, Ravana’s evil lair! Who says not to shoot here – Arjun Pandit, Yamla Pagla Deewana, Laga Chunari Mein Daag were all filmed at Man Mandir ghat. That’s the boat in which Ram Teri Ganga Maili was shot. There’s Pradeep Kumar’s riverside mansion. But anything ulta pulta…’ Gorakh shook his head.

 

Srinidhi Shetty tipped to make Tamil debut opposite Ajith

Amid the rising expectations, the latest discussion about the film's leading lady has come to light. Reports suggest that Srinidhi Shetty, who gained nationwide fame for her role in the 'KGF' series, is in advanced talks to act opposite Ajith. This will mark her Tamil debut, and her role in 'Ak 64' adds a new dynamic to the film's casting.

“It is said that SSMB29 has created the costliest film set of the Indian Cinema, amounting to 50 crore! This is almost 150% higher than the previous costliest set of the Indian Cinema, which is now occupying the second spot after Rajamouli’s film took the top spot!

Wink Girl Priya viral with Ajith film / Atlee- Allu Arjun subject not Salman reject / Rajamouli- Mahesh. Spirit updates

 

Priya Prakash Varrier played a key role in the film Good Bad Ugly. Yesteryear’s actress Simran, too, made a cameo appearance. Interestingly, Priya Prakash Varrier danced to an old song featuring Simran. The song was “Thottu Thottu Pesam.” The original song featured Simian and Raju Sundaram.

In this version of Priya Prakash Varrier, Arjun Das danced along with her. The similarities between Priya Prakash and then Simran, Priya Prakash dancing and swirling her navel similar to Simran, have made people make comparisons and discuss them on social media. The song was an item number in Mammootty film Ethirum Puthurim directed by Ramani. The item song was planned with Rambha but as she demanded high, Simr Soundarya was replaced by Sangita as female lead. Music was by Vidyasagar.an was cast instead.

Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana from 'Ethirum Puthirum'

After establishing herself as a top actress, Simran made a special appearance for the first time in her career in the 1999 film 'Ethirum Puthirum'. Simran and popular choreographer Raju Sundaram was seen dancing together for the song Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana, and both delivered a wonderful performance. The song, which featured in the middle of the thriller 'Ethirum Puthirum’s' plot, proved to be an energizer for fans

The Atlee – Allu Arjun project is not what was told to Salman Khan. We hear that Allu Arjun was told a subject which is one hero film and it was kept pending as there was issues over payment- profit sharing with Sun Pictures. Salman Khan project needed another hero and as prices were high for South heroes, the project was shelved. Salman himself has said about it and it can be revived later. The current project has only AA and it is not a reincarnation subject. The story moves simultaneously in two  universes.

Moving towards Prabhas Spirit, Kareena Kapoor is only confirmed actor to  play the baddie. Deepika Padukone – Mrunal Thakur for female lead , Unni Mukundan – Vijay Sethupathi, Sanjay Dutt (elder Brother ) are in talks. Once they are confirmed an official announcement will be out with a pooja.

There will be no summer release for Prabhas Rajasaab. The team is left with a little talkie part and the song shooting. Many CGI studios are involved with the film, and the output has been coming out well. Thaman is wrapping up the songs, and they will be shot as soon as possible. A new release date will be released soon (Second Half of 2025)

More from SSMB29 team, they has locked in their desired release date- March 25th, 2027, the RRR release date. They might even announce this in the promotional video announcement, which is what I’ll get into now. They have shot a two-minute video with film footage, which will serve as the proper announcement tease for the film. The post-production work for the video is currently underway and will likely be released either later this month or early next month. Press Meet will happen this month.. The runtime of the film will be 3 hours 20–30 minutes.