People in north wanted to see larger-than-life heroes like 'Pushpa' and 'KGF', says Nagarjuna

The actor, known for blockbusters like Shiva, Mass, Killer, King and Don, said such movies cannot do well unless they are rooted in the culture and language they are coming from.

South superstar Nagarjuna on Friday said movies like Pushpa and KGF have done better in the northern belt as people there wanted to see larger-than-life heroes.

A character like Allu Arjun’s labourer-turned-smuggler Pushparaj from Pushpa came as a breath of fresh air to audiences in places like Bihar, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and that is why the movie earned more in the Hindi language than the original version, Nagarjuna said.

"Both the Pushpa films made more money in the north than in Telugu. We have seen similar kinds of stories in Telugu before ’Pushpa’ and it was nothing new for us. Whereas in the north, in Bihar, Punjab and UP, they wanted to see the heroes like Pushpa or Yash’s Rocky from KGF or Baahubali. They wanted to see heroes like that. They wanted to see larger-than-life heroes. For Indian people, just living day-to-day itself is very difficult. And when they want to overcome stress by watching movies, they want to see magic on screen,” Nagarjuna said.

The actor, known for blockbusters like Shiva, Mass, Killer, King and Don, said such movies cannot do well unless they are rooted in the culture and language they are coming from.

"Rajamouli shot Baahubali frame to frame, thinking it is a Telugu film. He was very proud of his roots and language, and he shot it like a Telugu film, and people loved it across the world. If you are rooted to your storytelling, it will resonate,” Nagarjuna said.

Nagarjuna was speaking at the session "Pan-Indian Cinema: myth or Momentum?" on the second day of the first World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) here, joined by actors Karthi, Anupam Kher and Kushboo Sundar. Ponniyin Selvan star Karthi said people think Allu Arjun became an overnight star in the north because of the Pushpa franchise but they are wrong.

"He didn’t get success overnight. People have watched Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo umpteen number of times during Covid. So, he was already a familiar face, his dance was already famous. When you talk about success, it has been waiting to happen for the last 10 years. There has been a huge following for South films,” the actor added.

He recalled the time when he was shooting for a project in Maharashtra’s Satara where people "knew all the Telugu stars" as it was just across the border. They didn’t know Tamil stars, but they knew Telugu stars. They have been watching the dubbed versions in theatres. So, the market was already there, but untapped, and now, when you have tapped it, it is opening up big time.

"Look at the views of all the dubbed movies of South films on YouTube. So, there has been a fan following for a long time," he added. Sundar said every Indian man has an alpha-male shade, which they see in these movies. "When you see a man hitting 10 people and protecting his family, I think that connects a lot with people who are actually sitting in the front and throwing money. I think that is what actually connects with them, Oh my hero can beat 10 people’ and it’s believable because even if they do not have the superpowers, it’s believable because they connect with us emotionally,” she said.

Kher said films that depict a certain honesty, they will connect with the audience. "What is happening now is that we are trying to be cool. That is frightening. That coolness is an attitude. An attitude will never work. What will work is a certain amount of storytelling,” he said. "What we need to do is to be honest, it will always work. Whether honesty is larger-than-life or it is simplistic or realistic, that is a separate issue. But it is the honesty which will work,” he added.