Kiran Abbavaram who is gearing up for his Diwali release K-RAMP, sat down with Tamil critic Bharadwaj Rangan. During the conversation, he politely but firmly addressed what he sees as a clear bias in Tamil distribution and audience behavior.
Kiran pointed out that Tamil production houses regularly secure a fair number of theaters in Telugu states, even during heavy competition, and release their films in Telugu. Telugu audiences, he said, are open-minded and support films regardless of language or star power.
However, when his thriller KA movie was set for a Diwali 2024 release, Kiran said he struggled to get screens for his Tamil version. To his shock, he couldn’t even secure ten screens for his KA movie Telugu version in Chennai. He contrasted this with how Telugu audiences and buyers support Tamil films and expressed hope that this imbalance will change.
While many agreed with his comments, some on social media compared his situation to Pradeep Ranganathan‘s Dude releasing next week for Diwali. It’s clashing with several Telugu films, including Kiran Abbavaram‘s K-RAMP. They argued that Pradeep has built a strong Telugu market after delivering a blockbuster like Love Today, whereas Kiran’s previous film Rules Ranjann did not create any buzz among Tamil buyers.
But Kiran’s point goes beyond his own market. He highlighted a larger issue faced by many Telugu actors. Tamil films regularly rely on Telugu audiences for box office support, but Tamil distributors show little interest in allocating theaters for Telugu films in Tamil Nadu. Even Tamil audiences don’t seem inclined to explore what Telugu actors are making.
As Kiran said, this is a structural issue that’s difficult to fix, especially when local Tamil audiences themselves show little interest. Still, he said, cities like Chennai should at least ensure a fair number of theaters for Telugu releases.
