The "South" took over the Citadel-- An Analysis of the rising South Indian Film Industry | Student Works

The South Indian film industry has been in a vehement uproar over the last five to six years. The trend and the taste of the audience have turned the tables of focus towards South Indian movie industry, only further solidified by the Golden Globes’ win bagged by RRR’s music director MM Keeravani, as well as their Oscars’ nomination for Best Foreign Film. Sequels and prequels about 'smugglers' (Rockybhai and Pushpa) have taken over the game into what we cinematically call the "next level."

Since R. Rajamouli and his vision of filmmaking which he calls 'larger than life’ films, fictitious characterizations are placed over and above gravity. His exuberance has paid off well at the box office, and his filmography proves the same. Emotional undertones in diverse stories like Eega aimed for the viewers' hearts straight in the bull's eye. Baahubali, RRR, and Pushpa broke the box office records, and the otherwise stereotypical advantages of Bollywood put the famous B–town into second thoughts before releasing a movie that might clash with those of the Telegu stars. Telegu movies are expanding the horizons of Masala movies with the right consistency. KGF by Prashanth Neel and Hombale Films took the Kannada industry into its zenith, which we believed to be a small industry, now reaping and performing grand in box offices.

How did the South overcome the popularity of Bollywood and are now creating cinematic universes? Lokesh Kanakaraj's Vikram and Kaithi, which were major hits, can be taken as recent examples of the growing popularity of the South Indian film industry. Lucifer and the upcoming Empuran from Prithviraj Sukumaran are yet more anticipated ones. Since the market was favourable and Indians' love for films didn't die off post-covid, the directors started to dream big. The theatre experience and film scrutiny towards movies have also elevated the quality of the content intake.

A 'Political' Cinema

The politics of the maker is very evident at the end of every movie that amplifies the voice of a class; this is similar to that of Tamil Filmmakers like Vetrimaran, T.J. Gnanavel, and PA Ranjith. The Dalits are portrayed as strong, assertive heroes—destroying caste pride and the idea of women's chastity. Asuran and Jai Bheem are such movies discussing the rights of the oppressed, creating momentum against films showcasing excessive caste pride and valorizing the system, named after caste identities like Thevar Magan and Chinna Gounder. There was a time when Tamil movies were very commercial, and the fear of famous actors starring in a Dalit film was genuine. Madras was the movie that drastically changed the narrative of Tamil, discussing the complexity of Dalits. More films discussing caste politics and individual rights should join the bold portrayal of equal rights and freedom.

Film critics never leave a film without analyzing the content, the political correctness, the freshness, and the critical dissection of specific scenes in the movies that live beyond their time and era. Super Deluxe, for example, could become one of those cult classics that portrays women and transgender people and them being unapologetic for their choices. Such movies redraw women in a new, non-replicable light where the lines of 'what people might think are blurred.

The new age movie makers in the Malayalam industry have conceived movies from a more realistic and layperson's perspective. The films by Padma Rajan and Sibi Malayil broke all the societal stereotypes that were present in the 90s. They made classic hits like Thoovanathumbikal, Kaanamaraythu, and Dasharatham in Malayalam and crowned Mohanlal and Mammooty with their stardom. Filmmakers like Mahesh Narayanan, Dileesh Pothan, Shyam Pushkar, and Blessy, Jeo Baby, the unending list of visionary makers, and how they mould the characters and these characters penetrate our emotions. Fahad Fasil, wielding so much power in his eyes, became the new book of method acting. The conscious efforts actors make in choosing different scripts to escape typecasting and the loop of similar characters thus making them unpredictable. A man telling a woman's stories from their age-old fantasies has been overtaken by women who tell the stories of men with more empathy and emotional intelligence. Moothan by Geetu Mohandas is one such example.

However, male directors have also created movies that can tell a story from a more liberal narrative of those not-so-motherly women without a distinct label. Jude Antony's Sara's takes a bold stand for the female protagonist who chooses her career over an unplanned pregnancy.

Women in Cinema and Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) in the Malayalam film industry also allow women to create their own space and amplify the voices of their oppressors. South Indian superstars like Nayanthara and Samantha have grown out of the 'damsel in distress characters and created a market of their own. The women of Cinema are swimming against the odds and are bringing in stellar content. Discussions about Equal pay and #Metoo movements in Cinema are still some areas these industries have significantly to achieve.

Movies also help in discovering the regions' old dialects, create an identity, and break the dominant superiority of languages and dialects. Visionary script writers emancipate the human urge to celebrate self-esteem regardless of caste, creed, race, gender, sexual orientation, linguistic differences, and all other dimensions of differentiation. Movies have the power to influence the audience's collective conscience, and these manipulations of women's chastity have been abolished through the powerful cinematic portrayal of 'Sex is not a promise', in movies like Mayaanadhi.

OTT: the Game Changer

The advent of OTT platforms has redefined the appetite of viewers and the design of movie-making. World cinema is at our fingertips, and the world viewing regional Indian movies and sending in reviews have made it huge for native language movies; for example, Minnal Murali, a Basil Joseph Cinematic Universe with a superhero from a village of Kerala, the movie made the viewers empathize with the villain Shibu and his longing for love. Guru Somasundaram just stole the show from the innocence of  Jaison.

The diversity that OTT platforms produce is immense. It has become a platform where aspirant actors can crack into the audience's minds, and the distance to the dreamy big screen is decreased.

Bollywood-  Time to reframe contents?

TV actors who have proven themselves through OTT, especially in Hindi cinema, still struggle to get a decent role in B-Town. The elitist and exclusiveness of Bollywood have backfired, and the scarcity of content and viewership in the industry has been in the discussion for a while now, with the overpowering politics curbing creative freedom (through various trends like #boycottbollywood), nepotism, star kids failing multiple times to prove their skills, and boring remakes. Failing in the box office, B- town is in grave distress. Is the audience done with the glamour,  fantasies and content that only cater to the elite section? Is it time for Bollywood to revamp the screen space with a more talented group of people onscreen? Isn't it too late to eliminate the unwanted bubble of 'Hindi' being the only image of Indian movies and streamlining the South Indian industry?

The talk shows and movie promotion campaigns promote South actors separately when they are technically Indian actors and advertise large-scale budget movies from the South as 'Pan-Indian'. It is high time we neutralize the term 'pan India' to just India.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Vijay Varma, Manoj Vajpayee, Shefali Shah, etc., are prominent examples of gripping performers. The screen space these kinds of phenomenal actors receive in OTT is proof of their talent, but somehow their skills don't reach the theatres. Shows and movies like Mirzapur and Mumbai Dairies. The Gangs of Wasseypur, Family Man, etc., were successes. Theatres need more raw, relatable cliffhangers than the cliched Dharma genre.

When the South industry is celebrating film fraternity through multi-starred movies, and audiences love their combo and sweeping off the box office, the stars in Bollywood fear sharing screen space with other actors, fear of losing the limelight, or thunder has resulted in a bad show. Is Bollywood in crisis, or does it lack quality, engaging content?

It's high time to share the 'tripping secret'.

Once, in an interview in 'Film Companion', the famous Film critic Anupama Chopra asked Fahad Fasil and Mahesh Narayanan what Malayalam actors eat, drink, and smoke. This was her genuine curiosity about the novelty of contents, scripts, and lyrics that made a small regional industry stand aside. Lately, Malayalam Cinema is bringing in movies from different regions of Kerala without missing out on the rawness and sensitivity of those regions and dialects. This can be addressed as how daily scenes and lifestyles of Kerala are captured through the creators' politics and how he wants to put out the dialogues and questions that we all thought of asking later become the cult following.

The movie fraternity is no longer in water-tight compartments; the film engagements and dialogues have crossed over the world. It's not just Bollywood actors debuting in Hollywood: the 'Sexy Tamil Friend' Dhanush in Gray Man made his entry right on point. In an age of worldwide collaborations, Indian Cinema has a long way to go and experiment with world performers.

Celluloid will bring more cinema lovers to the screen, letting the farthest film dreamer find his break, letting cinematographers capture all the shades of his palette in serenity. Let Cinema live through us.

Christina Tresa Emmanuel is a 2^nd Year student of MA International Studies. Her hobbies include writing poetry, prose, as well as watching movies. More of her works can be found on Wordpress.