By Milana Prakash (Team Creative)
In the mind of an average Non-South Indian, the idea of Southern Cinema always conjures myriad cringe-worthy stereotypes. Where veshti-clad (Not lungi!) ‘Madrasis’ are conversing in ‘Malayalam’, twirling their thick black moustaches as they take down on the bad guys in a series of gravity-defying stunts. A brief session of watching SET Max on a languid weekday afternoon may confirm some of these stereotypes, but Southern Cinema sprawls way beyond these frivolous antics.
For starters, there are 4 different, completely independent industries: Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. Where I’d regard Malayalam cinema as the repository of some of the finest stories in the country, the movies unfortunately often lose their sheen and get attenuated by the time they reach Bollywood (Classic examples of this are Drishyam, Bodyguard. and Bhool Bhulaiyya).
Next comes Telugu Cinema, which is popularly dubbed as ‘Tollywood’ – and which happens to be one of the largest industries in the world. It’s largely infamous for its supposedly commercial but borderline crass elements. Fun fact: most of the dubbed films that are screened on TV are Telugu films (Remember ‘Indra the Tiger?’). Although some of them are indeed ludicrous and terribly painful to watch, the industry has lately been doing very well, thanks to the enormous success of the Baahubali franchise.
This is followed by Tamil Cinema, the land of commercial cinema with a tinge of art and an industry that is capable of producing gems like ‘Kaaka Muttai’ and ‘Visaaranai’ or even unpalatable, obnoxious and heartbreaking disasters like ‘Puli’ and ‘Linga’. But, having housed iconic actors like Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan; powerhouse directors like Shankar and Mani Ratnam, it’s one of the most widely recognized and appreciated branches of Southern Cinema.
While Kannada films are still struggling to make their mark and create cinema that inspires and moves the audience, new-age filmmakers have certainly done a good job in maintaining a buzz; where recent films like ‘Lucia’ and ‘U-Turn’ have kindled the surge of a new wave of storytelling in the industry.
Despite the cultural differences, Southern Cinema has left an indelible mark in the minds of the rest of the country on multiple occasions. Remember the time when ‘Why this Kolaveri’ was a unanimous earworm? Or the ‘Pistah song’, which became the IPL anthem last year? The good news here is that audiences today are more receptive to different types of storytelling. The Malayalam film, ‘Drishyam’, ran in Mumbai for a whopping 100 days, while other blockbusters like ‘Premam’ and ‘Bangalore Days’ managed impressive 50 day runs in the city. The very fact that other Southern hits like ‘Kabali’, ‘I’, ‘24’ and ‘Baahubali’ are receiving dubbed releases throughout the country is a clear harbinger of the fact that cinema knows no language and that the story is the ultimate selling point for any film.
Hopefully, someday these lines between the array of ‘-woods’ that we have shall get obliterated, paving way for one consolidated body of awe-inspiring, creative and intelligent Indian Cinema.
Ps. Rajnikanth never said ‘Enna Rascalas’. Neither did he mix lassi with coconut water. Nor do South Indians dabble noodles in a tub of curd. (Thanks, King Khan).
