Cinema bridging north-south divide

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?’