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“South influx in Bollywood started with films like Meri Jung, Don No. 1”: Nagarjuna on pan India cinema & more
Nagarjuna opens up about the concept of Pan India cinema and explains why it is important for filmmakers to stay true to their story rather than appeasing the national audience.
The success of Pushpa in the Hindi belts has reignited the conversation around the influx of south in the Hindi speaking markets. While there is talk about the transition happening post the release of Bahubali, very few acknowledge that the South cinema gained popularity in Hindi belts due to the repeat run of dubbed films on TV. The industry insiders have time and again spoken about how Nagarjuna films like Meri Jung: One Man Army, Don No. 1, King No. 1 among others are the trigger point of the phenomenon in 2007.
Ask Nagarjuna to comment on the same and he smiles, “Yes, my earlier films like Don No. 1, Meri Jung are huge hits on TV. The reason for their success rests in the fact that Bollywood films were completely westernized, catering to the NRI audience. They had forgotten about the Indian audience, the single theater audience.” He adds, “And my films were pure single theater films. People could relate to the content because the background was so grounded. The south influx of heroes being larger than life started with those films. The audience enjoyed them and that’s where the real success lies.”
The veteran star however believes that it’s Bahubali that took things to the next level when it comes to theatrical medium. Explaining the formula of Pan Indian cinema, Nagarjuna says that one should intend to make a film that’s true to the ethos. “You should do your film, in your way, in your language. Bahubali was never shot at Pan India level, it was a Telugu film. That’s how you don’t miss the essence of your story. In thinking of Pan India, you would think that the Hindi audience might not like Lungi, so you need to wear a nice shirt – that’s where things go wrong,” he explains. Nagarjuna insists that going to Pan India at script level confuses the filmmaker.
“You will make a bad film, if you cater to all audiences. This has been proven time and again. I have tried bilingual films in my early days. We used to do one shot of Tamil, one shot of Telugu. We would try to release the films with different edits – one of Tamil, one of Telugu – but it just won’t work,” he shares.
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