On Wednesday, the 2017 Telugu film, Rakul Preet Singh and Bellamkonda Sreenivas-starrer Jaya Janaki Nayaka achieved a unique milestone of becoming the first film worldwide to cross one billion views on YouTube for its Hindi dubbed version. Excited about the feat, Rakul Preet Singh tells us, “When we convert into footfalls today of people going to theatres, it’s an insane number. Even Dhurandhar would have been watched by one crore people, so one billion is amazing.”
The actor shares that while over the years she had heard about the numbers of views for the film on the platform, but the one billion mark still came in as a surprise. “I actually went on YouTube to check if it was true,” she laughs, adding that contrary to reports online, the film was not a commercial failure. “I want to correct that it was a film that did well at the time of its release as well. I don’t know why some platforms have written otherwise. We had celebrated the success of the film, it was well received. Bellamkonda Srinivas was a relatively newer actor but Boyapati Srinu was a very big director and his films have always landed with audiences largely. This was a very loved film,” the 35-year-old says.
Rakul insists that it’s the post-pandemic digital wave that brought in more audiences to South cinema. “The digital age of Southern films has increased post 2020 and it’s great to see one of your films, amongst those,” she says. The actor now hopes that the film’s success opens more doors for makers. “I’m sure people will see more successes like this and it will lead to creating more spaces for films to work. When you talk about OTT, there are still just three to four players in that space and they have corporate limitations. But the more such platforms like YouTube reach a certain milestone, the more space it creates for films and makers to experiment, not just for an already released film but for some great original content too. For all you know, films could be released on YouTube, like smaller films, festivals films or films that don’t get theatrical screens,” she asserts.
With her last Telugu release being the 2023 film Boo, does this achievement come as a reminder to maybe do more Telugu films? “I want to but it’s just been a turn of events that I’ve been busy here. I’ve had three releases in the last one-and-a-half years and I didn’t have the time to fit in another film. But yes, I am on a lookout. I’m in that phase that it’s not about the industry, but it’s about the script, especially after the kind of love that I’ve got for Ayesha in De De Pyaar De 2 (2025). Even if I do something in Telugu, I want it to be different from what I’ve done before, because I’ve worked with everyone there. It’s about how do I reinvent myself as that’s my home ground,” she ends.