Shruti Haasan says Baahubali was the first film to break geographical and language barrier
India Today
Shruti Haasan believes SS Rajamouli's Baahubali served as a bridge between the North and South for pan-India cultural exchange. The actress will soon be seen in Amazon Prime Video's Bestseller.
Actor Shruti Haasan says the arrival of streaming platforms in the country has made South Indian films more saleable to the Hindi-speaking audience, which was earlier served mostly dubbed versions of the popular content from the region.
The actor said the pan-India theatrical market was mostly reserved for stars like Rajinikanth and her father, Kamal Haasan, with everything else never given an appropriate positioning. According to Shruti Haasan, the geographical and language barrier was first broken in a big way with S S Rajamouli's two-part blockbuster Baahubali, which was followed by digital platforms that offered the audience a chance to watch films in the original language.
"Earlier, they would take all the Telugu and Tamil films, dub them and put them on a particular channel. People would watch it and say, 'We love this South actor'. For some reason, there was some apprehension to just put it in a box and market it. It was almost like these films were being sold on the discount shelf.
"People like my dad and Rajini sir, with their films like 'Dasavathaaram' or 'Robot', were kept in a separate box, that 'Oh they are legends'. But I saw a clear shift happening with 'Baahubali' and then with OTT. When streaming services came in and people were allowed to choose for themselves with subtitles, they preferred to watch those movies in their original language," the actor told PTI.
She said the renewed interest of the audience in films from the South was purely because they "dictated" it. The 36-year-old actor recalled how she was once shooting in Madhya Pradesh when a fan complimented her after watching her dubbed Telugu film.
"So the Hindi audience has always been interested in Telugu, Tamil or Kannada films. They have always enjoyed it. This is not some grand round table of the elite filmmakers who sat together and said 'Let's do this'. This is the audience's demand that has permuted the market. Now, it's like you can go to the store and select what you want," she added.
Rajamouli's Baahubali, released between 2015-2017, is often hailed as the franchise that served as a bridge between the North and South for pan-India cultural exchange. Hindi film stars Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn will now be seen in Rajamouli's RRR, whereas Telugu star Vijay Deverakonda will make his Bollywood debut with Karan Johar-backed Liger.
