HAS SOUTH INDIAN CINEMA ARRIVED?

The title of this post may seem a bit tenuous. When was south Indian cinema lost for it to be discovered? When was it relegated, for it to be brought to the foreground now? It's easily the most visible and popular form of culture in any of the four southern states. It’s ingrained in the people’s consciousness. Just like masala dosa or Kanjeevaram silk.

Then again, South Indian cinema was always considered a poor cousin to Bollywood. I reckon this was largely due to better marketing by filmmakers in Bombay. Bollywood has this great hype machine working for it. And thanks to all this hype, a false impression has been gaining ground, especially among foreigners taking an interest in our cinema. That Bollywood is Indian cinema and Indian cinema is Bollywood. Malayalam Mega Star Mammootty raised a stink at last year's IIFA awards and rightfully so. Bollywood represents Hindi cinema. And that is only one part of Indian cinema.

On an average around a thousand odd movies are released in India every year. Of which, Hindi cinema makes less than 300. South Indian cinema makes close to 700. How about the number of theatres? India has just under13000 movie halls. Andhra Pradesh alone has about 3000 of them. Tamil Nadu has another 2500. The technical quality of an average South Indian film is far superior to an average Bollywood flick. And here I mean things like cinematography, editing and effects. These are universal and not subjective. Some of the finest cameramen and editors in Bollywood have come from the Deccan. Yet, South Indian cinema is consigned to a lesser existence.

But now within the space of a month, two big-ticket releases have changed that perception. Sivaji and Shankar Dada Zindabad. It’s perhaps the first time that the national media has taken such a huge interest in cinema from beyond the Vindhyas. And it’s purely because of the hyperbole built around these films. The images of Rajni fans bathing his posters in milk or Chiru fans throwing confetti in the theatre, does make people in this neck of the woods, sit up and take notice. Rajnikant and Chiranjeevi didn’t have to lift a finger for the publicity of their films. They are learning the same tricks that their Bollywood cousins have mastered. That fine art called marketing.

Bollywood has for long assumed an infallible superiority over cinema from other languages. But if Sivaji eats into the revenues of a YashRaj production like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, then you know the equations are being tilted. Like noted columnist Sadanand Menon puts it..'We may not have created Deewar, lekin hamare paas Rajnikant hai.'