A few years ago, Kamal Haasan commented that Chiranjeevi would have become a big star in Tamil as well had he tried to become one. Leaving that hypothesis aside, there was a time when Chiru did try to break into the Hindi film industry. In 1994, he acted in the Hindi remake of Arjun Sarja's Gentleman. Titled The Gentleman, the Hindi remake was produced by Allu Aravind via Geetha Arts. While the original was a big hit in both Tamil and Telugu, the Hindi remake was a disaster. The Tamil original was directed by Shankar S, while the Hindi remake was helmed by Mahesh Bhatt.
In a recent interview, Ram Gopal Varma controversially suggested that the Hindi remake didn't have the Prabhu Deva factor. The Chikubuku Raile song in Gentleman was a monster hit. Prabhu Deva's magnetic dance moves were enthralling. Chik Pika Rika Boom Bole, the song in the Hindi version, was performed by Chiranjeevi. It didn't quite attract the audience.
But RGV might only be half-true. No single factor can be attributed to the failure of a potential hit. Vigilante films might not be the go-to genre at that time in Hindi. The Gentleman might have been rejected by the Hindi audience mainly because of the genre. Chiru's southern Indian appearance, too, might have played a role.
