Tamil actors eye Telugu movies

Chennai: After impressing audiences and critics alike with their dubbed Telugu films, popular Tamil actors such as Suriya, Karthi and Vishal Krishna Reddy have finally decided to make their presence felt in Telugu filmdom by taking up projects in the language.

Suriya, who has dominated Tamil cinema for nearly two decades, has finally decided to do a Telugu film.

“I’ve always wanted to work in Telugu cinema because the audiences never treated me like an outsider. I missed an opportunity to work with filmmaker Rajamouli before. It was very unfortunate. But I’m happy I’ve finally signed a Telugu film,” Suriya had told IANS.

Suriya is waiting for the makers to officially announce the project.

“If everything goes well, we will start shooting from early next year,” he said.

Karthi, who has safely followed in brother Suriya’s footsteps, has bigger fan base in Telugu. He recently signed a Tamil-Telugu bilingual with Telugu star Akkineni Nagarjuna.

“Karthi has been accepted as a Telugu actor. Most of his dubbed Telugu films have done exceptionally well and since he takes effort to dub in his own voice, it has worked in his favour. With his new film with Nagarjuna, he’s sure going to make a big splash in the industry,” trade analyst Trinath told IANS.

The yet-untitled bilingual will be directed by Vamsi Paidipally, while PVP Cinema will produce it.

Karthi had said, “Since I’ve dubbed in Telugu for all my films, I’m very comfortable with the language”.

Actor Vishal Krishna Reddy, who was born in a Telugu household, is another popular Tamil actor who’s all set to work in a Telugu film soon.

It’s Vishal’s “parents’ wish to see him do a Telugu film”.

"The idea has been there for a long time, but it has finally materialized now. I'll start shooting soon. The prep-production work has already started," Vishal had told IANS.

Interestingly, his Tamil films were dubbed in Telugu, and a few did reasonably well at the box office.

Debutant Sashikanth, former associate of filmmaker Srinu Vaitla, will direct Vishal's Telugu debut.

Meanwhile, well-known Tamil character actors such as Sampath Raj and Harish Uthaman have managed to find a strong foothold in Telugu film with multiple projects.