Tamil star hero Vijay has announced his retirement from films, and Jana Nayagan will be his last movie. Superstar Rajinikanth is still acting and chasing box office records, but age is slowly becoming a limiting factor for him. Because of these reasons, many Tamil directors are now shifting their focus toward Tollywood.
At present, handling massive budgets of ₹400–500 crore in Kollywood is possible only with two stars: Rajinikanth and Vijay. In Rajinikanth’s case, age has become a major concern, as not all commercial scripts suit him anymore. Writing mass entertainers that match his age is a challenging task. Vijay, on the other hand, has decided to quit films to focus on his political career, making Jana Nayagan his final project.
With these limitations, Kollywood’s top directors who want to make big-budget commercial films are forced to look at other industries, especially the Telugu film industry. Shankar recently made Game Changer with a Telugu star. Atlee is now working with Allu Arjun, and Lokesh Kanagaraj is also collaborating with Allu Arjun. After Jailer 2, Nelson has committed to a film with NTR. Many directors are already in discussions with Telugu superstars for their upcoming projects.
The Telugu industry has around six Tier-1 stars and several pan-India heroes. This gives directors the freedom to plan bigger budgets and make large-scale films. Because of this advantage, many Tamil directors are now looking toward Tollywood stars for their ambitious projects.
