Southern Surge: Film Industries Of South Are Doing What Bollywood Used To Do In 70s & 80s, Even Better

Reeling under a prolonged spell of recession caused by intermittent closure of theatres and studios due to the pandemic lockdowns, Bollywood finally went into celebration mode in Nov­ember last year, with Rohit Shetty바카라�s Sooryavanshi collecting Rs 200 crore at the ticket counters. Industry honchos took its box office figures as a veritable indicator of the return of the good old days.

Soon, the moribund multiplexes bounced back to life with long queues for advance booking of Kabir Khan바카라�s 83. With B-town바카라�s top-selling pair바카라�Ranveer Singh and Dee­p­ika Padukone바카라�in lead roles, in a movie bas­ed on India바카라�s historic triumph in the cricket World Cup in England, that the film would make record-breaking business was a foregone conclusion.

Amid rising expectations over the high-­profile Hindi film, Bollywood chose to ign­ore Pushpa: The Rise, which was released a week before 83 hit the screens. Since it was a Telugu film dubbed in Hindi, with South­ern stars such as Allu Arjun, Rashmika Man­dana and Fahadh Faasil바카라�who had no track record in Hindi cinema바카라�nobody took it seriously.

ALSO READ: The Irresistible Rise Of Popular South Indian Cinema In The Pan-Indian Market

Bollywood had apparently taken the successes of the previous releases of Hindi dubs of Telugu hits, such as Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and its sequel, Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017), as well as the Kann­ada superhit, KGF Chapter 1 (2018), to be nothing but flukes.

What happened thereafter stunned ever­y­one. The much-hyped 83, promoted by cricket legends like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, tanked at the turnstiles. Worse still, it was yanked off many theatres to inc­rease the number of screens for Pushpa, as its demand rose steadily across the Hindi belt. A dubbed South Indian film had left the big-budget Bollywood marquee miles behind in its trail.

Pushpa바카라�s Hindi version alone went on to earn over Rs 100 crore, while its worldwide collection crossed Rs 350 crore in just abo­ut six weeks. Allu Arjun, who played the tit­le role, emerged as a pan-India superstar, with cow belt audiences going berserk over his action and dance sequences, just the way their counterparts did on the Telugu heartthrob바카라�s home turf in Telangana and And­hra Pradesh.

ALSO READ: Starved Of Fresh Content, Bollywood Is Desperately Looking For New Ideas

Cinema halls of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh had not witnessed such sce­nes in years. Suddenly, the great cultural Vin­dhyas that stood between the cinemas of the North and the South바카라�which had sho­wn some cracks after Baahubali and KGF Chapter 1바카라�seemed to be caving in.

It took Bollywood quite some time for the reality바카라�that Pushpa바카라�s success was no flash in the pan바카라�to sink in. Whatever doubts remained over the pan-India appeal of dub­bed South Indian movies, got dispelled in the next few weeks, with the humongous success of two more dubbed films바카라�S.S. Rajamouli바카라�s Telugu venture RRR (2022) and Prashant Neel바카라�s Kannada actioner, KGF Chapter 2 (2022). Released after Pushpa, both set new records by collecting over Rs 1,000 crore each worldwide at the box office.

ALSO READ: OTTs Are The New Mainstream, Here's How

Curiously, even as the stocks of dubbed Sou­thern movies soared, several high-profile Hindi films, from Akshay Kumar바카라�s Bachchan Pandey and Amitabh Bachchan바카라�s Jhund, to Ajay Devgn바카라�s Runway 34, Shahid Kapoor바카라�s Jersey, Tiger Shroff바카라�s Heropanti 2 and Ranveer Singh바카라�s Jayeshbhai Jordaar, bit the dust at the box off­ice, casting a cloud over Bollywood바카라�s longstanding dominance in the pan-Indian stakes. Que­s­tions are now being asked if the Hindi film industry has lost to its Southern counterparts once and for all.

The jury is still out. Trade analyst Taran Ada­rsh believes that cinema from the Southern industries has always been like this바카라�high on ent­ertainment and honest to its audiences. 바카라�It is Bollywood that seems to have lost its track somewhere on its way,바카라� he tells Outlook. 바카라�I won바카라�t say that it is happening only now. It certainly got an impetus with the Baahubali series and Pushpa.바카라�

ALSO READ: Contrasting Ideas Of Nationalism In Indian Cinema In 50s

According to Adarsh, Bollywood used to make films for the pan-Indian audience in the 70s and 80s, with Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra and Dha­rmendra in the lead. But with time, they started making metro-centric films that app­e­a­led only to the urban audience. 바카라�Bollywood forgot that it had left the all-India audience sta­r­ved of entertainment. The South didn바카라�t. Unlike Hindi cinema, they have maintained a great balance between meaty cinema and entertainment films,바카라� he says.

Adarsh has a point. It바카라�s not that South Indian films have not done great business across the country before. Films like Nayakan, Roja, Hey Ram, Bombay, Sivaji: The Boss, Vishwaroopam, Robot, etc., have all been hits across the country in the past three or four decades. But in the last few years, South Indian films have upped the ante. Films like Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali: The Conclusion, Robot 2.0, KGF: Chapter 1, Saaho, Pushpa: The Rise, RRR and KGF: Chapter 2, have broken records in the pan-Indian market. So, what has actually brought about this change?

ALSO READ: How Dubbing Has Contributed To The Growth Of South Indian Movies

Manish Shah of Goldmines Telefilms, known for dubbing popular regional films in Hindi,asserts that Bollywood has paid the price for ditc­h­ing family audiences. 바카라�Several Hindi mov­ies can바카라�t be watched with the family nowadays, because of excessive nudity and foul language.
But Southern films still cater to family audiences,바카라� he says.

Vijay Dingari, COO, Oracle Movies, agrees, 바카라�What I see is that movies from Bollywood are multiplex centric. The story, the concept, the plot, etc., goes well with city audiences. But, when it comes to small towns바카라�the B and C centres바카라�I feel they fail.바카라�

Film distributor Sameer Dixit of Pickle Enter­tainment, says audiences are looking for ent­ertainment, and want their heroes to have a certain attitude. 바카라�But this has gone missing in the Bollywood films of late. Films from the Sou­th still have that, and that바카라�s why audiences are not bothered whether they know or identify with the star in the film or not. That바카라�s why these films are doing so well.바카라�

ALSO READ: Making Visible The Invisible: The Gender Inequity Of Domestic And Caretaking Labour

Director Sashi Kiran Tikka, who is gearing up for the release of his film Major, starring actor Adivi Sesh, says the natural feeling in every filmmaker is that 바카라�this is something that can go universal바카라�. 바카라�All stories that can cross the lan­gu­age barrier, can go places,바카라� he says. 바카라�If you look at the films Rajamouli made before Baahubali, all of them had a universal appeal. They all have something that everyone accross India can connect with.바카라�

Come to think of it, Pushpa was exactly the kind of masala entertainer that Bollywood had perfected in the 70s and 80s. From Trishul (1977) and Laawaris (1981) to Agneepath (1990), Bollywood made several anti-hero films like Pus­hpa that featured a rebel protagonist out to avenge the injustices meted out to his mother. Themes like smuggling had also been done to death in that era.

Pushpa, therefore, was at best like old wine served in a shining bottle, with a new label. Yet, thanks to its tight screenplay, popular dialogues, breathtaking visuals, scintillating action, and song-and-dance sequences, it left audiences clamouring for more, regardless of the language barrier. Audiences in small towns of North India could instantly relate to the film and its protagonist.

ALSO READ: 바카라�Dalithood바카라� In Kollywood: The Dalit Magic In Tamil Cinema

In Pushpa, for one, the audience found their lost superhero. Allu Arjun바카라�s onscreen mannerisms, like running his fingers around his neck, coupled with signature dialogues바카라�바카라�Pushpa jhukega nahi (Pushpa will not budge)바카라�바카라�may seem over-the-top to new-age filmmakers and actors in Bollywood, but the audiences lapped it up like crazy.  

Today, Allu Arjun of Pushpa fame is not the only Southern star to have proven his mettle at the national level, without ever having stepped into Bollywood. Others, such as Prabhas and Mahesh Babu, have huge fan followings everywhere. Mahesh Babu has been refusing offers from Mumbai for years. If fact, his recent remark that 바카라�Bollywood can바카라�t afford him바카라�, had left Hindi movie moguls seething.

ALSO READ: Demigods Of South Indian Cinema

For Mahesh Babu, it is not the langu­age of the films, but the love of the audience that matters, irrespective of their provenance. 바카라�I don바카라�t think South or Bollywood matters, as long as your work reaches the audience,바카라� he says.  

Interestingly, the nationwide success of dub­bed movies appears to have bridged the gap between Bollywood and South Indian cinemas. As of now, Vijay Sethupathi will be seen in Merry Christmas with Katrina Kaif, while Vijay Deve­r­a­konda is making his debut in Liger, opposite Ananya Pandey. Similarly, there are many South films, in which famous Bollywood actors have starred. Rajamouli바카라�s RRR starred Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt, while KGF: Chapter 2 had Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon. Also, Nagarjuna will soon be seen on screen with Amitabh Bachchan for the first time after Khuda Gawah (1992) in the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Brahmastra. Nagar­juna바카라�s son Nag Chaitanya is also making his Hin­di debut in Aamir Khan바카라�s upcoming release, Laal Singh Chaddha.

Actress Raashii Khanna, who has a long list of successful Telugu and Malayalam films to her credit, says she is grateful to be working in an era when female actors are also getting bigger opportunities and better roles. 바카라�I enjoy my work even more now, because it has gone beyond the looks. I can finally feel the actor in me growing... Cinema has crossed language barriers with the coming of OTT platforms, reaching more people and whetting the audience바카라�s appetite with various genres,바카라� says Khanna, who recently made her Bollywood debut in a leading role with the crime thriller Rudra.

ALSO READ: Strength Of A Woman: Why South Indian Filmmakers Are Willing To Bet Big On Their Heroines

But then, can Bollywood take any lessons from the growing popularity of South Indian cinema in Hindi-speaking regions? According to actress Kangana Ranaut, both the content and the sup­e­rstars of South Indian cinemas are so popular because they are rooted in Indian culture. 바카라�No one can match their dedication and passion for work,바카라� she says.

Tamil film producer P. Jayendra, who made Navarasa with Mani Ratnam recently, says when people had to sit at home during the lockdown, they had the opportunity to discover content across all Indian languages. 바카라�People started enjoying good content regardless of the language they originated in, supported by dubbing and subtitles. It is this phenomenon that has been carried to cinema halls today. People are ready to view content regardless of where it is from, or the language,바카라� he adds.

ALSO READ: I바카라�m Driven By Fear Of Complacency: S.S. Rajamouli

Be that as it may, the big question for Bolly­w­ood now is whether it will have a bearing on the future of Hindi remakes of South Indian films? There have been countless remakes of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films since the black and white era of cinema, which have pro­ven to be money-spinners for Bollywood. Sal­man Khan바카라�s Wanted (2008) and Bodyguard (2011), and Shahid Kapoor바카라�s Kabir Singh (2018) were among recent hit remakes. Given the nati­onwide success of dubbed movies, will the South Indian filmmakers and actors now stop giving remake rights to Hindi producers? Film­maker Ram Gopal Varma already thinks so, saying that no filmmaker from the South is going to sell the rights of his film to Bollywood now.

ALSO READ: OTT Is Just Like IPL, It Introduced More Opportunities For Talent In Indian Cinema

So how will Bollywood fend off this challenge? Writer and director Sanjiv Jaiswal, known for his films on socio-political topics, says, 바카라�The basic problem with Bollywood is that nowadays, no one is making films. They are all busy making 바카라�projects바카라�. In the 70s and 80s, a lot of creative work was produced when writers, directors, producers, music directors, etc., sat together to discuss a story. There was confidence in each for the other바카라�s work. But now that바카라�s lost.바카라�

Adarsh feels there is still a chance for Bolly­wood to regain its past glory. 바카라�I think it바카라�s a temporary phase, and Bollywood will bounce back. But it has to make movies that should not mer­ely cater to the audiences living between Vers­ova and Bandra.바카라�

(This appeared in the print edition as "Southern Surge")

ALSO READ

The Great Mollywood Kitchen: How OTTs Empower Regional Cinemas To Compete With Bollywood

바카라�Indian바카라� Cinema And Dravida Nadu

Diary Of A South Indian Growing Up In The Hindi Heartland

Giridhar Jha with Yashika Mathur and Prateek Sur