The Frenzy Around South Cinema
These past few months have seen the rise of significant and heated debates- 'Has South cinema finally made it to the top?' or 'Has Bollywood finally learned a lesson or two from its recent failures?'. While the debate around the topics carries some merit, it also raises some red flags. Many who argue vehemently about South cinema do it for the wrong reasons.
A recent video of Chiranjeevi surfaced where he recalls how humiliated he felt seeing Hindi cinema projected as Indian cinema at an award function. As a person from the Hindi belt, I can't say I feel them but can only empathize with their cause. The past few years have witnessed greater reach and acceptance of South Cinema. Bahubali marks the start of this phenomenon.
However, can we happily accept every take around South and Hindi Cinema? Are all the arguments valid? On the contrary, I believe some arguments reek of toxicity and patriarchy. While we should applaud the success of South films, some retrospection and introspection in this respect are necessary too.
One argument in South Cinema's favor is that it resonates with Indian culture. Let us look at the example of the massive success of the Telugu film Pushpa. This Allu Arjun starrer movie got a big success in the Hindi belt even without any publicity, but looking at it closely, we find many things that we are trying to move past. There are scenes glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. Money in exchange for a kiss had to be the worst of them all.
The only thing progressive about the whole movie was the lyrics of the song 'O Antava' that focuses on the male gaze, making it different from the usual 'item' numbers we are used to hearing. Although, the purpose of even that gets defeated with the visuals trying to show the opposite. The movie is a massy one and there is no problem with that. But when we have constantly criticized Hindi cinema's massy movies for their glorification of wrong things, how can we call Pushpa and the likes of it resonating with Indian culture?
This doesn't mean that South cinema is more regressive. While the talk has been around Bahubali, RRR, Pushpa, KGF, and their box office collections, the Great Indian Kitchen and Minnal Murali from the region deserve attention too. Both of these movies have done a wonderful job. While Great Indian Kitchen is concerned with the social issue of inequalities between men and women, Minnal Murali brings forth a different and unique touch to the superhero genre.
While there has been a rise of South Cinema, a series of flops of Bollywood movies have been the talk of the town too. Big budget movies with big stars have sunk and rightly so. We can see a greater emphasis on content. Movies with the woman as the protagonist and not merely love interests to men are becoming increasingly common. In this context, Alia Bhatt's 'Gangubai' needs to be mentioned. The hero-like treatment of the character is so heartwarming. Sanjay Leela Bhansali needs appreciation for his vision and direction. This movie and many like these show that we are on the way to reshaping this industry.
I believe that at the end of the day we all are consuming art, be it of any language or region. 'Regional' cinemas should be given as much respect as Hindi cinemas. Both should be applauded as well as criticized when required. And in the end, we as Indians should not forget that this diversity is our strength and that should be the case even in the context of movies. So when you consume an art form, consume it without any bias. Let art communicate to you and not the language.
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