Tamil director Atlee, who scored back to back hits in Kollywood with films like Raja Rani, Theri, Mersal and Bigil, gained popularity beyond South India after he delivered one of the biggest blockbusters of all time with Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan. The action entertainer grossed more than 1100 Crores and make Atlee one of the most sought after directors in the country.
After Jawan, Atlee received promising offers from different languages. He was supposed to direct films Allu Arjun, NTR and Pawan Kalyan. However, things didn’t pan out as expected. In the meantime, he also bagged an opportunity to direct a video glimpse for Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani’s son Ananth Ambani’s marriage.
Atlee wanted to make a strong impact in Bollywood as a producer and came forward to pool resources for the Hindi remake of his blockbuster cop drama Theri. Starring Varun Dhawan in the lead role, the film, titled as Baby John, was written and produced by Atlee in the direction of Kalees. It was made on a whopping budget of more than 150 Crores by Atlee and two others.
Baby John released last week and failed to impress moviegoers. The first weekend revenues came as a rude shock to trade circles in Bollywood and the Monday signalled a death knell for the film in theatres. It is unlikely to recover from here and will end up as a huge disaster.
As a producer, it will be a big setback for Atlee in Bollywood as he might incur considerable losses with Baby John. He will soon announce his second project in Hindi with Salman Khan and other prominent stars from different languages.