New Delhi: Pushpa may have gotten into a bitter fight with the Japanese mafia in the opening scene of Pushpa: The Rule but box office numbers in Japan show Telugu cinema is arriving big in the Southeast Asian country. They are overtaking other Indian language films.
The list of highest-grossing Indian films in Japan has two Telugu names, RRR (2022) in first place and Baahubali 2 (2017) in third place, both directed by SS Rajamouli. In between them is Rajinikanth’s 1995 film Muthu.
In the last 10 years, no Bollywood films have managed to make a mark on the Japanese box office. And now, more Telugu films are being released in Japan. Next up is Devara starring RRR star Jr NTR.
Recently, a photo of him giving a Zoom interview to Japanese media for the film’s release appeared on social media.
Set to premiere in Japan on 28 March, the Telugu language film is directed by Koratala Siva.
“As an industry, it is great news because earlier it was Bollywood who would dominate a lot of these unusual markets. Aamir Khan is very popular in China and Japan. But now Telugu movies are also becoming worldwide,” said a Telugu producer.
The biggest Hindi film in Japan is the Aamir Khan-starrer Three Idiots (2009), which made 170 million yen. After Three Indiots, English Vinglish (2012) and The Lunchbox (2013) found success at the Japanese box office.
Also read:
Prabhas’ popularity in Japan
Rajamouli’s RRR earned over 410 million yen. It beat the record of Muthu, after 24 years. It made around 400 million yen.
RRR was screened in 209 theatres and 31 IMAX screens in the country. It was even turned into a play by a 110-year-old Takarazuka company.
His earlier film, Baahubali 2 earned 280 million yen and ran for 100 days.
Rajamouli had strategically marketed his films in North India, with Baahubali 1 becoming the first pan-India hit.
This year, Prabhas-starrer Kalki 2898 AD opened with 8.5 million yen at the Japanese box office on 3 January, which was bigger than the opening numbers of Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan at 4.75 million yen. Prabhas had even recorded a video apology for not being able to attend the premiere owing to a sprained foot.
“It becomes a matter of prestige when producers and actors can also say that our film worked in Japan or other markets, and received good reviews. There is an interest in non-traditional markets like Russia, Japan and China,” said senior film critic Ramesh Bala. “It also helps that not a lot of money is needed to add subtitles and dub in Japanese, and the returns can be good,” he added.
Prabhas’ 2023 movie Salaar brought in 5.50 million yen during its opening week. His film Saaho had run for 150 days in Japan and made Rs 12 crore.
Even Tamil movies have managed to do good business in the country. Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar, renamed Dalbar Revenge for the Japanese market, set the cash registers ringing. It managed to earn over 230 million yen or Rs 13.39 crore.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)