Main jhukega nahi!
Sher ko pakadne ke liye shikari chahiye…
I hate violence…but violence likes me!
Three movies have changed the game.
Actually four. The first was Bāhubali, that showed the power of Telugu cinema to India and the world.
Then came Pushpa – a low-key affair in the North but ended up shattering many records, and surprising a lot of trade ‘analysts’.
Then RRR, which was expected to break records, and went on to meet expectations.
Now comes a movie from namma Karnataka, KGF-2, that has broken all records on day 1!
I am personally proud of these feat, and it is not for breaking a record. It is because the rest of India will now know that there exists an industry, or industries in the South that are not just on par, but much more richer than the trash Bollywood doles out nowadays.
Kannada cinema is what we grew up on, because that’s all Doordarshan offered. But those movies were entertaining, and wholesome, but largely ignored outside linguistic boundaries.
Today, the power of (good) dubbing has expanded these boundaries, and the world can see what is on offer.
This is no mean feat, and in it is a warning. “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked“. The pandemic brought out the power or OTT and regional cinema, and Bollywood has been caught swimming naked. Instagram selfies in Maldives may bring you a few likes, but not boots into the theatre.
For that, you need to improvise and work on revamping the experience that you give movie goers, something that Bollywood has not done in a very long time.
Until then, regional cinema will continue to dominate – both minds and the box office!