Talent crossovers blurring regional boundaries in cinema

With the advent of Over the Top filmmakers are pushed to raise the bar and provide novel content to grab more eyeballs amidst tough competition. Pan-India and out of the box themes are being explored to reach the wider audience and redefine mainstream cinema with a touch of realism, writes ETV Bharat's Minal Dodia.

Hyderabad (Telangana): In 2015, what SS Rajamouli's Baahubali franchise did to Indian cinema is to inspire filmmakers to dream big and widen their horizons. Since then, the storytellers are riding on the new wave of pan-India films which is witnessing an upward trend while stories from India's heartlands continue to enthrall audiences.

Anticipation around what Sukumar will offer after the humongous success of Rangasthalam (2018) was at its peak. But he managed to repeat the success of his previous outing, and how! The commercial success of Pushpa: The Rise, not only brought a nationwide name to the director and its leading man Allu Arjun but also cemented the fact that regional stories with heart in the right place and told with authenticity will appeal to audiences even when the pandemic has been wreaking havoc across the world.

With the boom in the Over the Top (OTT) market, the demand for original quality content is at an all-time high. And will remain so as the future of video content is not limited to streaming platforms only. In such a scenario, the consumer has the best of the content a click away which is building pressure on filmmakers to come up with original and out of the box content. And, to keep the bar high, all the forces that make cinema happen are apparently pushing the boundaries in unison.

Content crossover across the film industry is not new as actors like Jeetendra and Venkatesh have built their careers on remake movies. Salman Khan's big hits like Wanted and Ready were also borrowed from the South while his Dabangg franchise fascinated Pawan Kalyan. After seeking inspiration from Tamil and Telugu movies for years, Hindi filmmakers are now apparently turning to Malayalam cinema for fresh ideas to keep in tandem with the evolved taste of moviegoers.

From John Abraham-starrer Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake to Janhvi Kapoor headlined Mili, which is a remake of National Award-winning film Helen, to Joseph's Hindi remake with Sunny Deol in the lead. In 2022, a slew of Malayalam movies will get altered for the Hindi audience. To make sure the story is not lost in translation, the makers of Helen and Joseph Hindi remake have decided to retain original directors Mathukutty Xavier and M. Padmakumar to helm the films respectively.

READ |Sunny Deol in Hindi remake of Malayalam film Joseph

For decades, Hindi movies were majorly monocultural, ladened with heavy influence from the northern part of the country. Sanjay Leela Bhansali bringing colours of Gujarat to the big screen or Shoojit Sircar introducing the audience with the world of self-obsessed and snobbish Bhashkor Banerjee in Piku. The representation of other states has remained sporadic. The scene, however, is gradually changing as filmmakers are looking beyond the boundaries of camps, languages and stardom to cast the talents.

From what it appears to be, the audience will be in for astounding experiences when actors like Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, and Prabhas, the leading pan-India hero will feature together in Nag Ashwin's Project K. While the blurring boundaries will open new opportunities for actors and filmmakers, it will also expedite ubiquitous influence on the audience.

The shift in the dynamics of the film industry becomes apparent when Pratik Gandhi bags films with Vidya Balan and Taapsee Pannu. Even though it happened after the breakthrough Scam 1992 and being around in Gujarati films and theater for more than a decade. On the other hand, actors like Parambrata Chatterjee are yet to get their due in Hindi cinema.

For makers, to cast actors keeping the business aspect of cinema aside is also too much to ask for. But when they manage to strike the balance Aanand L Rai averts criticism over casting a non-Tamilian actor for the role of Vishu played by Dhanush in Atrangi Re. While the makers of Meenakshi Sundareshwar face brickbats for a glossy, surface-level presentation of Tamil culture with Delhiite Sanya Malhotra and Mumbai born and bred Abhimanyu Dassani playing the lead.

After a game-changing Baahubali, Rajamouli is returning to the screens with RRR. The film is credited for bringing back the two-hero film genre which is slowly disappearing from the big screen. Not only that but the director will also be credited for bringing together the best of both worlds to increase RRR's pan-India appeal. Tollywood biggies Ram Charan and Jr NTR aside, the starcast also boasts of actors from Bollywood like Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt in pivotal roles.

READ |Ram Charan hails Rajamouli for bringing supposed 'arch rivals' like him and Jr NTR together in RRR

The talent crossover, however, is not new. In past, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Rajnikanth, Arvind Swami and others have had multiple outings in Hindi. However, it will be safe to say that R. Madhavan is the only actor from down south who managed to have a long and successful simultaneous run in both industries.

Earlier, actors from the South apparently lacked the drive to come out of their comfort zone and work in other languages. The new generation, however, thrives on the ambition of reaching a wider audience. Hence, we get to see Samantha Ruth Prabhu managing to steal the show in The Family Man 2 and Sriram Raghavan casting unusual pair Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi to headline his upcoming film Merry Christmas.

Not only actors, but filmmakers are also no more confined to language limitations. While Karan Johar presented Baahubali in Hindi, for his upcoming production Brahmastra, Rajamouli will put his might behind the magnum opus in the South. Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday's pan-India film Liger is also co-produced by Johar's banner Dharma Productions.

Allu Arjun rightly said that it takes "courage" and risk-taking appetite to venture into other industries. The one who blurred not only regional but international boundaries is Priyanka Chopra. Her success in the West is testimony to the fact that now is the best time to be in the business of films whether it is in front of the camera or behind it.