Cinema bridging north-south divide

NTR Jr in 'RRR'. Directed by SS Rajamouli, the film released in theatres on March 25, 2022. (Screen grab)

The predominance of north India over south in the area of films is slowly tapering off. Hindi as a language found its majoritarian voice in the films that went on to become pan-national, with non-North audiences contributing to the hit/flop status of any new release. The unofficial partition of the country into two main directions, north and south, is perhaps at last beginning to be dismantled in a 70 MM cinemascope way.

Bollywood has by default been the yardstick, the examples, the reference, the object of deeper study. That the southern film industries, not to mention industries from other parts of India, have been copiously producing content has been an add-on and, historically speaking, never the main story. Many things intervened to make cinema from the rest of the country come into its own.

First, of course, the content. For the longest time, Hindi films borrowed from its regional counterparts and vice-versa. That the southern fare could net national viewers with sheer plot went a long way in sealing its superiority. Hindi films like Masterji, Drishyam, Kabir Singh and Shaadi No 1 had their original versions in the bhasha category – Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada, respectively.

Music was another story. Original scores from southern films went on to become national tunes. Tearing across state borders, the songs with changed lyrics contributed to the film’s success. Mainly Tamil, with Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rahman leading the brigade, these songs were on everyone’s lips: Chinna chinna asai, Urvasi Urvasi, Surmayi akhiyon main, Humma humma… Suddenly, music from down under could not be ignored anymore. It was taking the nation by storm. So much so that Bollywood began to hum ‘Why this kolaveri di?’

Just when Tamil and Telegu were beginning to look like serious alternatives to Hindi fare came the Malayalee onslaught. Kerala, after its soft-porn phase and then a prolonged comic phase, started to focus on content like never before. The films that sought to do well, despite the overpowering appeal of superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal, had to do so by adopting a different route, one of realism. Film after film dealing with the actual, well-written and with great acting. The Great Indian Kitchen, Ee Ma Yau, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Pada, Kumbalangi Nights, Aarkkariyam…. Going into new genres, presenting life in different ways, mostly magical. New ground was being broken.

And just when everyone started to talk about these films from Kerala, the pandemic happened. Which trapped us in with our TV sets, with movie theatres closing down. Now content really came into play. Everything – from the background score to acting by random extra – came under the lens. Carefully cultivated stardoms came toppling down. Mixing and matching of personalised tastes, going by algorithms, subtitles, and the ready availability of content from the world over… an entire audience changed. Hindi films made for mass appeal began to fail: Bachchhan Paandey, Samrat Prithviraj, 83, Dhaakad… The list keeps growing. The central star system reported a bug.

So it is that almost 100 years after Raja Harishchandra was released, Indian cinema has stopped being only Hindi cinema.