RRR, a pan-India film directed by SS Rajamouli and starring superstars Ram Charan and Jr NTR, recently smashed all box office records and made history by claiming the number three spot on the list of the highest-grossing Indian films. RRR has surpassed Rs 1,000 at the global box office and continues to perform well. Prior to RRR, pan-India films from the South, such as Pushpa and the Baahubali franchise, earned big at the box office and made inroads into the Hindi belt due to their content.
Joining the chorus of praise for RRR’s superb script and stellar performances, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan recently stated that he was pleased Ram Charan was doing so well. During his media interaction, Salman, however, expressed his disappointment with Hindi films not performing well in the South. “He (Ram Charan) has done such a fantastic job in RRR. I just wished him on his birthday, and on the success of his film. I am very proud of him. It feels so good that he is doing so well.” But I wonder why our films are not doing so well in the south. Their films are doing so well here,” Salman stated.
Now, in response to Salman Khan’s remark, KGF Chapter 2 star Yash, whose film has already broken box office records, told a news portal, “It’s not like that. Our films also never used to get this kind of reception, but what is happening from that part of the world, they have started playing dubbed versions here, people became familiar with the content of what we are creating. I think initially it started as a joke for entertainment because that show they used to treat it that way, but that is because of the kind of dubbing they used to do, nobody used to give importance to this space. But what worked today is people got familiar with our way of storytelling, our cinema, so it has not happened overnight. That has been there for a few years and eventually, they started understanding the content, the expression of the direction, and everything. And then we got a straight instant connection with Baahubali, SS Rajamouli sir, Prabhas, they took that initiative followed by KGF- it also entered with a commercial angle.”
He continued, “In our culture, there are a lot of differences, and that should become our strengths rather than becoming our weakness. If they can spend the time and give us, do something relatable, in the end, it is all about relatability, there are lots of films from the North that are massive hits. We have watched a lot of films of Hindi stars, we all love them, but the market potential – have they lived up, penetrated it – definitely, there is a huge potential in what I feel and Salman sir is right in that aspect but it isn’t that we don’t watch, we have been watching them but the thing is maybe they should see other aspects also other than just releasing the film – the way you collaborate with people, good distribution, like how we had Excel Entertainment here, they need to come with good production houses there – who can sell the movie and I would like to see that situation where film releases pan India and I hope that happens soon.”
Meanwhile, RRR star Ram Charan too had reacted to Salman Khan’s comment and said, “I want a director from Hindi cinema to make a pan-India film which caters to even the South. Salman (Khan) said, I really love Ram, Rajamouli, and Tarak’s work but why are our films not being appreciated in the South?” It is so candid and honest of him to say that but I believe it is not Salman ji’s fault or some film’s fault, it is the writing; it is the director who has to transcend these boundaries of ‘hamara movie idhar hi dekhenge, hamara movie udhar hi dekhenge’. Every writer should write movies like Vijayendra Prasad (RRR) or Rajamouli and say ‘believe in it’.” And of course, I want to make an Indian film where I want to work with talent from here (Bollywood). I want directors to explore the talent from the South and make bigger films so that we have bigger budgets and we see bigger numbers at the end of the day,” Ram Charan also added.
Yash’s KGF Chapter 2 is set to hit theatres on April 14. Salman Khan, on the other hand, will be seen next in Tiger 3.
