- By Simran Srivastav
- Tue, 11 Jul 2023 12:38 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
One cannot forget the question, 'Kattapa ne Baahubali ko kyu maara?', which left the audience on the biggest cliffhanger ever created by any movie in Indian cinema. SS Rajamouli's directorial 'Baahubali' had such a massive impact that it united the Indian audience with one question. Experimentation with a huge budget and scale is one of the biggest risks a filmmaker can take in Indian cinema but SS Rajamouli dared to do so and the idea of 'Baahubali' was born.
As 'Baahubali: The Beginning' completes eight years of its release, take a look at how it has changed Indian cinema and broken the language barriers.
Breaking The Language Barrier In Indian Film Industry:
Indian cinema has several film industries catering to the audience speaking a particular language. But 'Baahubali' broke that language barrier of entertainment by showing that cinema and its craft are not limited. The movie successfully transcended the different regions where people were not familiar with the South Indian film industry.
Originally made in Tamil and Telugu, 'Baahubali' was also released in the dubbed versions of Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Bhojpuri, Marathi and Bangla. The Hindi-speaking audience in India showered the movie with immense love. The Hindi version of 'Baahubali' collected approximately Rs 5.15 crore on its opening day, which was the highest opening for any film dubbed into Hindi. The movie earned around Rs 24 crore in its first weekend in the Hindi belt.
After the success of 'Baahubali', the audience became more open to watching content from the other film industry despite having a different language. Due to the popularity of OTT platforms, these language barriers are decreasing day by day.
In an interview with Forbes, SS Rajamouli talked about the change brought by 'Baahubali' in Indian cinema can have both positive and negative impacts. "Any hit films, impact-creating films, leave their mark on the industry. It is in human nature to try to follow something that is creating an impact. So when a film like Baahubali comes along and it creates such an impact and becomes a hit, people will obviously be attracted to it and try to imitate it or do similar films. If they take the core of it then it helps them, but if they just look at the box office numbers and try to replicate it, that won’t work," he said.
Rise In Pan-India Films:
The concept of pan-India films took over the country after the massive success of 'Baahubali'. This trend has transcended the linguistic and cultural barriers in India, targeting all kinds of audiences across the country. After 'Baahubali: The Beginning' and 'Baahubali: The Conclusion', the Kannada film 'KGF Chapter 1', 'RRR' and 'Pushpa: The Rise', among others successfully used the pan-India release trend.
These films led to the exchange of talent across Indian cinema that go beyond the language. For instance, Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film 'Jawan' features Telugu stars Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani and Nayanthara while released in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.
SS Rajamouli, through 'Baahubali', proved that the content is king for the audience, who is willing to appreciate the cinema and its craft beyond the language and culture.