viacom 18After a successful stint of 2 years as an integrated movie studio, Viacom18 Motion Pictures will now mark its foothold in the already diversified and rapidly growing business of regional cinema.

The studio will be producing 6 movies in 5 different languages that include Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Punjabi and Bengali, lined up for the current year.

2012’s popular hit Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani will be remade in Tamil and Telugu languages, to be directed by Shekhar Kammula, and will star south siren Nayanthara.

The popular Marathi film Zapatlela’s sequel is also planned and the movie will set a mark as Marathi cinema’s first sequel and only 3D film, while 72 Miles will also be produced in the same regional language. 72 Miles is based on the commercially successful novel of the same name and award winning director Rajiv Patil has been roped in to make this film in Marathi.

Neeraj Pandey has also been roped in by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures to produce a Bengali film called ‘Bhitu’ starring Bengali superstar Jeet while another Bengali film ‘Reunion’ will be creatively produced by Sujoy Ghosh.

In Punjabi section, ‘Bhajji in Problem’, featuring Punjabi superstar Gippy Grewal, is lined up. The film will be directed by Smeet Kang, who also has to his credit popular Punjabi hit ‘Carry on Jatta’. The film will also star Harbhajan Singh, Honey Singh and Akshay Kumar in cameo roles.

The move, behind producing regional films, aims to reach out to the audiences who consume cinema in varied regional languages.