“Relating a person to the whole world: that is the meaning of cinema”
The halo of fame that was floating due to hyped media snippets and heavy PR mechanisms for keeping the Bollywood industry in the limelight is now just a few steps away from fading into an eclipse. Ironically, Bollywood which never missed an opportunity to let down South cinema is now pulling out all stops to collaborate with directors and stars in the South to save its future. The wheels are turning dramatically and undeniably it is the Covid-exhausted audiences that are reaping the benefits.
While almost all South Indian stars are now household names owing to their authentic acting skills and versatile expressions, Bollywood stars continue to face criticism for their dead acting skills devoid of expressions. With experiential content and phenomenal acting South Indian cinema is now creating a global appeal and the success speaks volumes in the revenues earned by a few recently released South Indian movies.
South belt has been successful in making a smooth transition to North India. However, we do not see any possibility of Bollywood movies making a dent in the South in the future. It looks like when Bollywood was enjoying drug parties, and giving controversial statements, South Industry was brainstorming experiential scripts while paving the way for talented actors, directors, scriptwriters and beyond. Bollywood has always preferred resting on its laurels. On the other hand, the South has always focused on evolving. Here are the top reasons why Bollywood lost its sheen and South Indian cinema is basking in the glory:-
Action sequences: Ironically, a few recent Bollywood movies were mocked for stale action sequences. While South Indian movies continue to capture the imagination of the masses with flawlessly impressive action scenes not just in South India but in North as well and the trend is not doing to die down anytime. With this comparison between the action sequences of Bollywood and South Indian cinema has become a routine affair. And the winner is clearly South Indian Cinema Bloc which comprises Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film industries that go to extra mile to present visually stunning high-octane action sequences.
Songs: “Jumme ki raat hai,hum tere saath hain,chumme ki baat hain,Allah bachayein mujhe teri var se” Can you imagine a Sikh man singing such kind of song in a real life? but Salman khan did it in a movie named “Kick” where he played a role of a Sikh man“Devi Lal Singh”. “Jumme” “Allah” and many other words have come to become an integral part of Bollywood movies which the Hindu community earlier did not notice. However, this intentional attempt to promote “Soft Islam” has been now exposed. Now let’s take a glance at the lyrics of another movie. “Allah mujhe dard ke kabil bana diya,toofan ko bhi kashti ka saahil bana diya….”
Where Captain Ranveer Pratap Singh played by Tiger Shroff in a movie named “Baaghi 2” is singing this song. Isn’t Sajid Nadiadwala promoting “Soft-Islam” through lyrics In a Hindu-majority country like India a wrong move in Bollywood? This is where Rajamoulli and other south directors stole the heart of the Hindus by not promoting “Hindutva” in a subtle manner but rather in a hard-core manner considering that India has always been a Hindu-majority country.
Hinduphobia: Rising Hinduphobia in Bollywood has also contributed to the downfall of Bollywood. Showing anti-Hindu scenes mocking Hindu deities, and demeaning great Sanatana dharma has become a trend in Bollywood movies perhaps owing to the involvement of underworld money in movie-making. Displeased with the same, more and more Hindus are jumping on the bandwagon of boycotting Bollywood forever. Interestingly, Bollywood is now pinning huge hopes on two of its upcoming movies Shamsheras and Brahmastra. These two movies may help reinvent Bollywood to some extent. However, out of these two movies, Shamshera is receiving severe backlash for showing its antagonist Sanjay Dutt keeping ‘Shikha’ (hair tuft on the head) and wearing sandalwood ‘Tilak’. In a wake of the Hindu community’s displeasure of disrespecting God and goddess, hurting the sentiments of Hindus may work in disfavour of Shamshera.
Nepotism: The word “Nepotism” is no more an unfamiliar word post the unexpected demise of one of the most versatile and talented actors of Bollywood “ Sushant Singh Rajput”. His demise not only exposed the drug connections in Bollywood but also triggered the never-ending debate on the negative repercussions of Nepotism. After a deeper analysis related to Nepotism, it is apparent that Nepotism not only exists in Entertainment but it exists everywhere right from politics to business to any industry you can think of. However, talking the Nepotism in Bollywood will continue to receive criticism because it is “Institutional”. In simple words, Nepotism in Bollywood is organized by a Nexus of top directors and producers like Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, top media channels, Distributers, Modelling and Pr Agencies, Financiers and what not. This entire network pulls out all stops to make star kids famous.
On the other hand, Nepotism in South Industry be it Mollywood, Kollywood, Sandlewood, or Tollywood is totally based on sheer luck and reputation. Out of the respect of senior actors and actresses, the star kid is offered one or two opportunities. If a star kid fails to meet or surpass the expectations then it is all over. A few star kids despite their extremely influential star parents have fluffed while a few have managed to rise on the top despite their parents not being as influential. Also in Bollywood, very few examples of newcomers rising to the top can be seen. While in South Indian cinema, many newcomers are accomplishing milestones out of their hard work and persistence.
Acting: Bollywood actors and actresses are struggling with a lack of dedication in the context of homework when preparing for their roles. What could be a better example of Akshay Kumar who completed the shoot of “Prithviraj” in less than three months and did not bother to put effort into preparing for his role? On the contrary, we all know that not just Prabhas but other leading actors and actresses did invest a few precious years in doing justice to their respective roles in the movie “Bahubali”.
Character sketch: New age directors like Lokesh, Rajamouli, and Mani Ratnam, do not spend unnecessary money on technology, expensive colourful sets, pricey costumes, luxurious song sequence shoot aborad, or posh female leads. Rather they spend money sensibly on bringing “shade” or character narration for the roles. They spend money sensibility on bringing details in their scripts.
Promotion: South Indian cinema prefers “on-ground promotion strategies. The involvement of South Indian directors in movie promotion has played a pivotal role in helping audiences strike a connection with a movie before even watching it. Recent examples are “Lokesh Kanagaraj” and “Rajamouli”, who satiates the curiosity of their audiences by talking about the character definition. On the other hand, do you remember seeing “Aditya Chopra” in any movie promotion or even giving interviews in media narrating character definitions? He runs his production house like a corporate house that has failed to understand what modern mass audiences want.
Script: Content has always been a king and South Indian cinema knows it since its beginning. That is why, it prefers to stick with easier-to-understand logical scripts with an immaculate flow. A script in south Indian cinemas is not culture-centric and hence attracts the masses. Scriptwriters in South India strive to come up with experimental scripts with phenomenal horizons that establish an interesting connection with their audience. In simple words, South Indian cinema has already started experimenting with Multi starter scripts with all lead roles having equally convincing screen presence that keeps boredom at bay. Bahubali, Pushpa and RRR are the latest examples of the same. Non-linear scriptwriting with interesting character definitions in the scripts of South Indian cinema keeps the audience engaged throughout the movie.
While scriptwriters in Bollywood look for shortcuts in the form of coming up with plagiarized scripts that seek inspiration from either South cinema or Hollywood. Also in Bollywood, the majority of the recent scripts are either stereotype scripts or are culture-centric. At times the scripts in Bollywood are so illogical and clumsy with no flow that they suffice to turn off the audience. A movie named “Geheriya” starring Deepika Padukone is one of the biggest examples of such scripts that promote the nonsensical culture of extra-marital affairs. In a nutshell, like the evergreen “Thali” concept of an Indian restaurant, South Indian movies offer something to everyone due to the scripts that are created keeping in mind the rustic Bharat unlike Bollywood scripts with a sheer focus on Urban India.
Technicians: South Indian cinema has the most seasoned technicians who know how to use technology brilliantly. While Bollywood is still struggling to discover such technicians. For instance, for the Bahubali movie, Rajamouli found out with the help of a seasoned technician that a CGI Elephant created using SAMC would cost INR 85 Cr for merely 10 minutes action sequence. So he brainstormed other viable options and decided to opt for primitive Jurassic Park animatronic techniques that cost him INR 11.70 Cr.
Star value: When star-studded movies including remakes with twisted scripts continued to fail at the box office, it was a wake-up call for Bollywood towards which it did turn a blind eye. Star power, big banners, and item songs no longer sell. Bollywood failed because it banks on the star value while South India is keeping its charm intact as directors and producers in South Indian cinema bank their movie success on scripts and not on star value.
Experiment: South Indian cinema figured out long ago that their target audiences will eventually start embracing experimental projects. Also, South Indian cinema knows the pulse of the audience from the beginning and continues to keep up with technological and cultural trends with a wide variety of offerings in terms of themes and genres that are rooted in a particular period. While Bollywood never realized that the day of movies based on formula scripts of love and loss is going to end soon. In simple words, Bollywood never realized that they cannot put forward illogical content supported by dull acting just because the movie is multi-starer or involves a particular superstar. Unfortunately, it is still turning a blind eye towards embracing experimentation and does not seem prepared anytime soon to step out of its comfort zone.
Rapport level between celebrities and fans: Gone are the days in the North when celebrities were treated like God. Blame it to the overexposure or hurting Hindu sentiments, celebrities in Bollywood keep on receiving backlashes for something or the other reason. On the other hand, celebrities in the South still do enjoy cult following if not treated as God. They are admired for their value-based lifestyle, not lagging in taking pride in culture and for their calm demeanour. In a nutshell, there is a huge difference in the rapport level that exists between the rapport between Bollywood fans and actors versus the rapport between South actors and their fans.
Costumes: Costumes in Bollywood movies look like costumes of fashion ramp that do not connect with the masses in any sense. On the other hand, costumes in South Indian cinema connect with a realistic canvas. For an instance, can you imagine any North Indian girl wearing a mini-skirt when going to visit someone in hospital? But Karan Johar made it possible in his “SOTY-2’ movie where Ananya Pandey and Tara Sutaria, both were wearing mini-skirts in hospital.
Language barrier: Earlier due to language barriers, Bollywood was enjoying success with minimal hard work by simply buying South Indian scripts. There is no dearth of examples. Right from Amir Khan’s Ghajini to Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam, from Singham to Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey are the official Hindi remakes of South Indian cinema. Now when original versions of South Indian movies have started releasing on a Pan India basis in dubbed Hindi versions why would people be interested in watching nonsensical twisted versions oozing with substandard acting.
In fact, South Indian cinema has always been a profitable and robust ecosystem since its inception and multilingual versions of South Indian movies were a common phenomenon even decades ago. A few prominent examples are “Roja”, “Bombay”, “Sivaji-the boss”, “Robot” and more. However, the recent additions to the list including “Bahubali”, “RRR”, “KGF”, and “Pushpa” dramatically turned the scenario by completely outshining Bollywood movies. With good dubbing technology, and subtitles, language is no longer a barrier and finally, the masses are reaping the benefits of experiencing an authentic cinema which has not been delivered by Bollywood for decades.
Music composition: South India has the most talented music composer A R Rehman. It is needless to point a finger toward the level of music that exists in Bollywood.
Target audience: Bollywood is creating movies for either the NRI population or the Mumbai suburban. Interestingly, Bollywood never cared that what the remaining population will watch. The way Bollywood ignored a major part of the Indian population the same population is now showing Bollywood its right place. And a few directors and producers have played a pivotal role in the downfall of Bollywood including the leading lights of Bollywood aka Karan Johar.
He forgets that the majority of the Indian population comprises the rural population that fails to connect with the characters of KJOverse called “Dharma Production” comprising terribly pathetic movies. A few movies name include ‘Kapoor&Sons’, ‘I hate luv storys’, ‘We are family’, ‘Shaandaar’, ‘Ok Jaanu’, ‘Student of the year’, ‘Gehriyaan’, and the list is endless. Now let me ask you candidly, can a rickshaw-puller or a roadside owner strike any connection with any other character definitions of these movies? KJOUniverse perhaps forgot that even the majority of the urban population hails from 2-tier, 3-tier cities, and villages. The truth is that the sensible urban dwellers refused to fall prey to glossy urbane flicks that promoted nothing but Soft-Islam and extra-marital affairs and they did try to find some solace in Hollywood movies.
A wave of rising OTT further challenged the supremacy of Bollywood movies that were vying for the limited time and money of urban dwellers. Amidst this, the Grand action franchise, epic fantasy with larger-than-life VFX, patriotism at a grandeur level, and stellar biopics from South Indian cinema seem to fill the void created by Bollywood.
Budget: South Indian cinema pours more budget into movies than Bollywood ever can. It is nowadays normal for budgets to surpass over 300 crores. The outcome is naturally a visually and technically stunning magnum opus where quality actors along with technical experts bring the screen alive. On the other hand, Bollywood has always been skeptical when it comes to taking big risks. It is no wonder that everything right from song sequences to action sequences to technical details looks too mediocre.
Lifestyle and demeanour of stars: The lead actors and actresses in the South are too humble. They accept their weakness and flaws and tries to improve their acting skills. They have respect for their audiences and the scriptwriters even try to craft scripts from an audience’s point of view. On the other hand, the life of actors and actresses in Bollywood on screen is different from their life philosophy and behaviour in their real lives.
Well, in addition to ‘Nepotism’, ‘promotion of Soft-Islam’ Bollywood is struggling with numerous things such as “Drug nexus’, “favouritism”, “Casting couch” and what not. Bollywood is lagging in building an intriguing world that makes us connect with the characters. Karan Johar movies like “Student of the year” is one such unrealistic world that nobody can feel a connection with it. On the contrary, South Indian cinema has been able to strike a right chord with the audiences with the help of the above-mentioned factors. The sense of narration of scriptwriters, the knowledge and grand vision of directors of making a film both emotionally and technically is just unparalleled. Artistic value in South cinema is being recognized.
To sum up, the dimensional future of South Indian Cinema is brimming with positivity and hopes. On the other hand, Bollywood’s future seems bleak with back-to-back flops until it commits to come together to reinvent itself. A few Bollywood movies like “Lunchbox”, and “Is love enough. Sir? Of course, came like a breath of fresh air and with the success of “The Kashmir Files” it became evident that audiences are no more in a mood to tolerate stereotyped Bollywood movies. However, Southern cinema completely took control by gaining momentum with back-to-back success. One thing is clear South Indian Cinema is not only here to stay in the competition but it is going to rule through the roost at the box office.
The recent rise of Vijay Setupati and the success of unconventional scripts like “777 Charlie” indicates that this is just the beginning and there is a lot to be explored when it comes to satiating the expectations of audiences. However, it is absolutely palpable by now that there does exist a box office market of 1,000 Cr and with all the right elements it is possible to grab this number but only for South Indian movies.
Even OTT platforms are also now more eager to collaborate with directors and scriptwriters from the “South” for launching original series and movies over the upcoming years to unleash new talent. “Suzhal – The Vortex” created by Gayatri and Pushkar that was released on Amazon Prime is one of the recent examples of the same. In much simpler words, audiences’ choices are evolving and now they are looking forward to embracing experiments in all forms right from scripts to casting, from nuanced narratives to fantasy-driven world.
As far as the future of Bollywood is concerned, in my opinion, for the genuine talent to showcase calibre, it has become imperative for the “Old Bollywood” to die. A redundant institution of entertainment full of unqualified incumbency devoid of any talent must die paving the way for genuine talent no matter it is an actor, scriptwriter, lyricist, director or beyond to gain recognition. So Bollywood we do not want to be forced to tolerate stale action sequences, expressionless Nepo kids like Jahanvi Kapoor, Ananya Pandey and the list goes on and on. Karan Johar are you listening?
“I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.”
Do share in the comments what are your thoughts about South vs Bollywood.
