Theatrical trailer of the Hindi version of Allu Arjun’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo to release on January 20; film expected to release in 2000 screens across the country

The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to all the January films getting postponed. After Delhi shut down cinemas, everyone expected the other state governments to follow suit. But except a handful of states, cinema halls are functioning, albeit at 50% occupancy and minus night shows. Pushpa: The Rise – Part 01, starring Allu Arjun, thankfully has managed to attract audiences but the footfalls are naturally depleting week after week. The exhibitors stared at losses and even temporary closure due to the lack of content.

However, on Monday, they all had a reason to cheer after it was announced that the Hindi version of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo would be released in cinemas on January 26. Manish Shah of Goldmines Telefilms, who released Pushpa: The Rise – Part 01 in Hindi, also holds the rights to Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. The latter also stars Allu Arjun and the original Telugu version was a blockbuster. In the words of Manish Shah, “Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is the biggest non-Baahubali hit down South.” Hence, a lot of hopes are pinned on the Hindi version.

When asked when the theatrical trailer of the film will be out, he replied, “It’ll be out on Thursday, January 20.” The teaser of the film was released on Tuesday, January 18.

As for the screen count, Manish Shah said, “We are hoping to release it in 2000 screens across the country.”

When asked about the promotional plans, Manish Shah made an interesting point, “You can see the promos of the film on our channel, Dhinchak TV. Our whole promotional strategy is focused on the platform where our target audience is present. We plan to target the single screen audience. And they watch movie channels. So, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’s teaser and trailer will play in full swing on the movie channels. We’ll also give ads in papers. We are not targeting the elite audience at all. They’ll anyway be informed about Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’s release through social media. However, we want to inform viewers who are not on social media but who watch TV channels and read newspapers. Even with movie channels, we have picked those that have a substantial reach in both urban and rural areas, and where fans of dubbed films are present. Dhinchak TV is one such channel; its USP is that it only plays dubbed films.”