Beyond Bollywood: Content-driven regional films break language barriers, rake in good collections too

Team ‘Baahubali’ has contributed over 4 percent of the total earnings of the Celebrity 100 list.

The Baahubali franchise has changed the face of Indian film industry as the euphoria around both movies was nothing anyone has seen before. But it is not just the films’ visual effects or its grandeur that took people by surprise. The fact that the film’s original version was in Telugu which did not have any impact on word of mouth or its box office collections is something to think about.

For India, Bollywood is synonymous to national cinema. Regional films in the country have struggled to have a pan-India appeal despite having thematic diversity, technical excellence and production figures. But it looks like now films other than Bollywood are making a mark in the industry and among audiences.

Proof of this is the phenomenal run of both Baahubali movies. And the list doesn’t end here. Films like Sairaat which will be remade in Hindi with the title Dhadak, Rajinikanth’s Robot and the much-awaited movie 2.0 releasing next year are some of the other films that are proving to be game changers.

Talking to Moneycontrol, MD of Mukta Arts, Rahul Puri said, “Bahubali is a phenomenon. SS Rajamouli is a phenomenon. There is no doubt what the film and he has done for the industry is second to none. No film has created the kind of tornado that Bahubali 2 has done and in comparison, its business dwarf’s the first part’s extraordinary run.”

He added Hindi audiences waited for this film like they wait for one of the big Hindi releases. “Such was the clamour to understand why the first film ended the way it ended, there were lines for the 9 am show in theatres which generally patronised Hindi.”

In recent times, regional films are not only enriched with good story-telling but have a strong backing from established names and also finds receptive audience.

Puri mentions the success of another non-Bollywood film that shifted industry's attention to regional cinema. He said Sairaat which released last year was a Marathi film that hit the bulls eye with a non-Marathi audience. A small film on a budget of about Rs 5 crore went on to gross Rs 100 crore at the box office and did it by attracting traditional and non-traditional audiences.

“Mostly these movie-goers were in Maharashtra but centres like Mumbai played an unusually high number of prime shows for the film because audiences that usually patronised only Hindi, went to see a love story that had a shocking conclusion.”

So, what has led to this change in film-viewing?

According to Puri, “People want content. Irrespective of language, if the film is good and strikes a chord, people will watch. We have seen this in the growth of English cinema in India in the past few years. English films, like Fast and Furious, which have a mass market heart, even when dubbed, are strong competition to Hindi releases. This is clearly the case with regional films as well.

He emphasized on the performance of director Nagraj Manjule’s 170 minute love drama. “Sairat was screened at a time where there were many other mainstream Hindi films, but where as they floundered, this film picked up steam and kept on going. Word of mouth was strong and audiences chose something good in a regional language over something run-of-the-mill in their preferred language.”

The show put up by these films has set a precedent even for Hindi films. “In absolute terms, Hindi films need to think how they make their cinema go the other way (Mumbai to Hyderabad and Chennai), if they are ever to get close to this record,” added Puri.