Vijay’s RAW bombs miserably in Hindi, what makes Yash, Allu Arjun and SS Rajamouli Bollywood kings?

It is as clear as daylight that the Southern invasion of the Bollywood box office that trade experts love to espouse, is no more than a pie in the sky.

Sure, Baahubali and RRR turned out to be global money spinners. But the star of these two Telugu Titanics was the director S S Rajamouli. They would have worked just as well in Hindi or for that matter any language if they starred anyone else if not Prabhas , NTR Jr or Ram Charan . Prabhas learnt this the hard way when both his post-Baahubali releases, Saaho and Radhe Shyam failed to impress the Hindi belt.

Interestingly Saaho didn’t work in spite of Mumbai girl Shradha Kapoor playing the female lead. So there goes another myth: that Telugu/Tamil films are ensured an audience in the North if they feature a Bollywood heroine. Reportedly Telugu producers are paying the Mumbai heroines much more than what they get in Hindi films for ‘deigning’ to co-star with Southern superstars.

Interestingly, the first choice opposite Prabhas in Radhe Shyam was Katrina Kaif . The price she quoted sent the producers staggering and stumbling to Pooja Hegde.

It would be myopic and foolhardy of NTR and Ram Charan to assume that RRR’s success is a cue for them to try their luck in Hindi cinema. In fact, Ram Charan did try his luck in Bollywood in 2013, with a miserably unsuccessful remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic 1973 career-making film Zanjeer.

After the unexpected success of Pushpa: The Rise, Allu Arjun is not even considering any Hindi projects. “I am happy where I am. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get where I have in Telugu cinema. I wouldn’t like to disrespect my fans. Bollywood will happen when it happens. I am so glad Kartik Aaryan is doing the remake of the Hindi remake of my Telugu hit Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo .”

Tamil star Vishal Krishna thinks on similar lines. “Just because a handful of South films have worked so spectacularly in Hindi, it doesn’t follow that all of us can hope for a career in Bollywood. It’s the content that worked in Baahubali and Pushpa.”

One of Tamil cinema’s biggest stars Vijay has fallen flat on his face trying to woo Hindi audiences with his latest release Beast (Raw in Hindi). Raw’s miserable collections in Hindi, partially attributable to the success of KGF Chapter 2, a Kannada franchise film dubbed in Hindi which is breaking records at this very minute, is a huge embarrassment for Vijay and a warning signal for all the South superstars hoping to infiltrate the Hindi belt with their own Pushpas and KGFs.

It doesn’t work that way, says trade expert Taran Adarsh. “KGF 2 has embarked on a monstrous start and the opening day collections are historic everywhere, especially in the Hindi belt. Plenty of reasons. One, people have loved the first part and were eagerly awaiting the second part. Two, the characterisation of Rocky Bhai. He’s a larger than life hero, reminds you so much of the angry young man of the 1970s portrayed brilliantly by Amitabh Bachchan. People loved this character in the first part and were waiting for him to carry the story forward in the second part. Three, the thrill of watching a wholesome, larger than life movie. Also, this time, the presence of Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon added curiosity. As for RAW, the Hindi version of Beast, it has been rejected. There was no awareness for the film in the Hindi market, hence the outcome hasn’t come as a surprise.”

Trade analyst and producer Girish Johar feels the success of KGF 2 is exceptional. “This is really massive. Minuscule promotions and an ALL TIME BIGGEST START, in the Hindi belt…has really left us speechless. Singlehandedly the KGF2 team with leading man Yash has decimated the stronghold of traditional stakeholders. Now everyone has to pull their socks up and plan. Post-pandemic the audiences have evolved and the boundaries of regional content have blurred. The South has a huge new market in the Hindi belt and their constant hammering is bearing results for them. Also BEAST has done wonders at the local box office in Tamil Nadu but in the Hindi region, as RAW has not gathered similar traction. Also, the KGF Tsunami is too huge for any other content, especially in the Hindi belt, to gain foothold.”

All eyes are now on another Telugu superstar Vijay Deverakonda who makes his Hindi debut later this year with the Karan Johar produced Liger .

Deverakonda has his own take on winning the Hindi audiences. “I don’t see the audience divided by language anymore. Regionalism has disappeared from our cinema, especially since the success of the OTT platform during the past two years. Liger is neither a Hindi nor a Telugu film. It is an Indian film.”

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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