image source, TWITTER/BONEYKAPOOR
The new year has started off as a successful year for South Indian cinema. Is the Hindi film industry stunned as Tamil and Telugu films such as Varisu, Thadvu, Walter Veeraya and Veera Simma Reddy are racking up collections? Can Bollywood film industry be compared to South Indian film industry with recent success?
Times are changing when Indian cinema is identified as Hindi cinema internationally, beyond the borders of India. In particular, the movie Baahubali changed the entire world’s perception of Indian cinema.
Baahubali, which was released in two parts, not only raked in the box office all over the world but also showed that there is a multi-lingual cinema in India to look out for beyond Hindi cinema.
Baahubali director SS Rajamouli recently visited RRR in America. Speaking during the special screening of the film, it got a lot of attention.
The next step in the joy of winning the Golden Globe Award was RRR at the prestigious Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. He answered questions from reporters before the screening of the film.
“It’s not a Bollywood film. It’s a Telugu film, one of the South Indian cinemas. I use songs to propel the story forward in the film. Not to stop the flow of the film and provide music and dance.” SS Rajamouli’s speech also received mixed opinions among fans. Criticisms also arose as to why he did not say Indian cinema.
The film Baahubali, which revolutionized the Indian film industry, revived the term pan-Indian film. After that, KGF released in two parts in Kannada, Pushpa in Telugu, Ponni’s Selvan in Tamil, Vikram and Sita Ramam in Malayalam crossed the respective language boundaries and won the hearts of fans all over the country.
On the one hand, while some South Indian films have been well received in Bollywood, Akshay Kumar starrer Samrat Prithviraj and Raksha Bandhan, Ranbir Kapoor-Sanjay Dutt starrer Shamshera failed to win the hearts of the fans. Even Lalsingh Chadha’s film starring Dangal hero Aamir Khan, which garnered unprecedented collections in the Indian film industry, was not spared.
image source, AAMIR KHAN PRODUCTIONS
There have also been calls by some organizations to boycott certain films due to the occasional controversies in Bollywood cinema. The situation was such that leading star Aamir Khan announced that he would take a temporary break from the film industry in grief over the failure of Lalsingh Chatta.
On the other hand, varied stories, eye-catching visuals, VFX. South Indian cinema was seen to be moving forward with new leaps as technology and new strategies to popularize films among the masses.
In particular, O.T.D. Platforms have drastically changed the tastes of fans and have created a situation where language is not a barrier, so budget is not an issue and they approach filmmaking boldly.
Gone are the days when it was said that South Indian cinemas are developing on par with Bollywood cinema, now it is being talked about in the film industry that South Indian cinemas have surpassed even that. The success of South Indian cinema has radically changed the collection period of films in India.
In the heyday of Bollywood, films released on Diwali, which is celebrated across the country, tend to garner the highest collections. Films of leading actors not only in Hindi cinema but also in South Indian film industry were released for Diwali Bonsai. That situation has also changed this year.
While none of the films released in Bollywood last Diwali collected huge collections, all the films released in the New Year in South India have been huge hits. Both Vijay’s Warisu and Ajith’s Thadvavu, which were released in Tamil on the eve of Pongal, are running successfully.
Similarly, Chiranjeevi-starrer Walter Veeraiah and Balakrishna-starrer Veera Simma Reddy in Telugu are running to full theaters on the occasion of Makara Sankranti.
Not only Vijay-Ajith fans in Tamil, Chiranjeevi-Balakrishna fans in Telugu, but also the Hindi film industry is closely watching the collection status of South Indian cinema. Krish Johar, who continues to work in Bollywood, has said that Warisu, Thadvu, Walter Veeraiya, Veera Simma Reddy have collected 335 crore rupees in the first 5 days.
He tweeted that the transition between Bollywood and South Indian cinema in the Indian film industry is echoing in terms of collections and Pongal has overtaken Diwali in collections.
The unpromoted Pan India film Varis is said to be doing well in its Hindi version without much publicity. Hindi film industry and film critics are keeping a close eye on the collections of Tamil and Telugu films and giving daily updates.
Not only in India, but also in America, Europe, Gulf countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and other countries, Warisu, Thadvu, Walter Veeraiah and Veera Simma Reddy have all occupied a prominent place at the box office.
While Bollywood cinema is reeling, the South Indian film industry has taken advantage of the current healthy environment to take a leap towards the next phase. All the initiatives that were put off due to the budget are now being bravely taken up. Ponni’s movie Selvan is said to be the best example of that.
image source, Baradwaj Rangan/Twitter
Bharadwaj Rangan
At the same time, film critic Bharadwaj Rangan says that this comparison between Bollywood and South Indian cinema is wrong. “Bollywood films like Drishyam 2, Pramastra, Bol Phulaiya 2 have collected well in 2022. RRR and KGF 2 grossed the highest grossing Bollywood films in comparison. Last year was definitely not the best year for Bollywood. Not the worst year, though. “Many Bollywood films have collected more than Rs 100 crore in the past year,” he says. Bharadwaj Rangan told BBC Tamil that nothing can be said about a year’s comparison and mentioned that Bollywood director Karan Johar once told him that the number of people coming to theaters has decreased and films that collected Rs 70 crore are now earning between Rs 30 crore and Rs 40 crore. He went on to say, “Last year, apart from Love Today, there was no movie in Tamil that did not have big actors and directors. Bharadwaj Rangan says that the film industry is doing well only when the films run without knowing who is the director and who is the actor.
When asked if there is a story drought in Bollywood, his answer is definitely not. They say Bollywood means glamour. There is glamour, and beyond that there are good features. RJ Balaji starrer Veetla Visesam’s original film Pathai Ho was a big hit there, Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai was a big hit,” he said.
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