Although the film industries in the South seem to be successful curently, while Bollywood struggles to produce hit films, there was a time, particularly the ’70s and ’80s, when they too were making rip-offs of films from other languages. God forbid a filmmaker came up with a fresh idea in any language, even English, and the film turned out to be successful; their counterparts immediately jumped on it and churned out remakes, making a fortune at the expense of others. As a result, movies with original ideas were a rarity back then.
Interestingly, while Bollywood is now often criticised for its fixation on remakes, the Southern film industries too once followed a similar path. Recently, legendary filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) commented on this trend, noting how several South Indian superstars, including Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi, rose to fame by largely remaking films originally headlined by Amitabh Bachchan.
RGV said during a chat with IndiaTV Showbiz, “In the beginning, the entire South, all four languages, were remaking Amitabh Bachchan films. Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, NT Rama Rao and Rajkumar were making remakes of Bachchan’s films of the ’70s and ’80s. Then, in the ’90s, Mr Bachchan took a long five-year break. At the same time, coincidentally, the music companies entered the scene. They made films just to sell their music. That’s when movies like Maine Pyar Kiya came out. But the South never stopped making the so-called masala films, which they picked up from Bachchan. That’s how those stars became big demigods. It continues to date.”
Meanwhile, he said, the then-young Bollywood directors began gaining more exposure to foreign cinema, largely due to their knowledge of English and their upbringing in urban areas. “If you observe, most commercial directors in the South are very less exposed to cinema. They can’t talk about cinema like we do. They’re very close to the ground root,” RGV added.
RGV further went on to recall the reaction of a producer, whom he did not wish to name, to director Sukumar’s Pushpa: The Rise, starring Allu Arjun in the titular role. “Upon seeing the movie about three or four days before the release of the movie, he said the audience would puke on Pushpa. He was not referring to the actor. He was simply turned off by the character. They are so used to good-looking six-pack heroes on staple diets that they can’t comprehend a hero chewing paan at all. They are not watching the film; they are watching the film as what they perceive the audience would watch,” he pointed out.
