The Independent Takes A Closer Look At The Phenomenon That Is Baahubal

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The Independent takes a closer look at the phenomenon that is Baahubali!

 

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Baahubali: the Beginning: How the battle epic is helping 'Tollywood' challenge Bollywood's dominance over the Indian film industry

 

 

 

For decades, Bollywood has been content to churn out Hindi song-and-dance extravaganzas, secure in its position as the continent’s largest filmmaking centre.

But now a Telugu-language battle epic from southern India’s rival “Tollywood” has broken the country’s box office records and shaken Mumbai’s traditional big screen dominance.

Baahubali: the Beginning, the tale of feuding brothers who fight for control of an ancient kingdom, has earned 300 crore rupees (£30m) at the international box office in just eight days, smashing all records for Tollywood - southern Indian - films.

Laden with special effects and gravity-defying fight sequences,Baahubali has won plaudits for its Hollywood-style production values, prompting comparisons to Lord of the Rings and James Cameron’s blockbusters.

Laden with special effects and gravity-defying fight sequences, Baahubali has won plaudits for its Hollywood-style production values

The vision of filmmaker SS Rajamouli, 41, based in Hyderabad, capital of the southern state of Telangana, Baahubali took three years to produce and is India’s most expensive film ever, with a budget of £25m.

What has unsettled Bollywood’s establishment is the fear thatBaahubali’s global success will shift the centre of a regionally-divided Indian film industry away from Mumbai.

Baahubali (Strong Man in Hindi) was shot in Telugu, the native language of Telangana. Its release was accompanied by a marketing budget beyond most Bollywood films, with the producers unveiling the “world’s largest poster”, stretching to 51,000 sq ft (4,738 sq m).

Opening in 4,000 screens worldwide and described as his “masterpiece”, Rajamouli’s film seduced critics and audiences with breathtaking scenes of mountain flight and a 40-minute climactic battle sequence.

 

Baahubali has also been dubbed into Hindi and immediately attracted Bollywood’s regular cinemagoers, setting a new box office record for a dubbed Indian film of £5m inside a week.

 

Salman Khan, the Bollywood star and producer, whose own new film Bajrangi Bhaijaan was overshadowed by the phenomenon, admitted: “Baahubali is a good film and our (Bollywood) cinema should try to match its success. These numbers of the film do scare you.”

Ram Gopal Varma, a Bollywood writer-director, said Baahubalishould be “a wake-up call to all stars to look beyond themselves to become bigger… otherwise they will be relegated to the bottom rungs. In an industry jungle of lions, tigers, pythons and elephants, the Baahubali dinosaur arrived and now the survival rules will have to change.”

As well as the challenge from Telugu’s “Tollywood”, the Tamil-language cinema of “Kollywood” centred around the Chennai neighbourhood of Kodambakkam, is also setting new standards. Tamil director Shankar demonstrates greater flair with camerawork and ingenuity in fight scenes than his Bollywood contemporaries, critics say.

Sudha G Tilak, an arts writer based in Delhi, said: “Southern India is producing more films than Bollywood and with production values that compare to anywhere in the world. Bollywood’s stories have lived in a comfort zone for some time.”

Baahubali’s succeeded, Ms Tilak said, because it “tells a traditional Indian folklore story of warring princes matched with state-of-the-art special effects. It’s taken everywhere by storm.”

Tensions between the south and Mumbai are played out behind the scenes. Southern India produces many female stars who are accepted by the Mumbai industry but male actors are not afforded the same opportunities.

Ms Tilak said: “It’s similar to the way black actors do not get top billing in Hollywood. There is some resistance in the Hindi film industry. I look forward to the say when Southern India’s stars have their own wax statues in Madame Tussauds.”

Rajamouli told the Times of India: “I know that if you have a universal theme and a good story told well, it will work everywhere. The success of Baahubali across the country proves my theory right.”

The Baahubali story is just beginning. An edited version, paring down its two and-a-half hours running time for sale to international audiences which have yet to succumb is being prepared. And in true Hollywood style, the concluding chapter,Baahubali Part II, is shooting now for release next year.

 

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