Adipurush, Liger, KGF, Project K, Jawan: The obsession with a ‘Pan India’ film

The year was 2015, and the storm that was Baahubali changed the course of cinema in India, forever. India woke up to the power of films made in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam- the south belt, and realised how enormous a potential films there, held. And thus began, the ‘pan India film’ obsession.

Almost as many as 15 films ever since have been labelled as one. Just in recent memory- Yash’s KGF franchise, Brahmastra, and more recently, Adipurush. But what exactly is a ‘pan Indian’ film? Is the term (and idea) done to death?

RATIO OF HITS TO FLOPS IS LOW

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh agrees that it’s been overused. “Baahubali’s success was followed by Pushpa, RRR… these films really qualify as pan India. Kartikeya 2 also did well in it’s Hindi version. A lot of producers feel ‘why not try our luck’… when you make films for a larger audience, the budget increases, and the recovery would be much more if it were to work,” he opines. But examples of such films not working are aplenty- Vijay Deverakonda’s Liger, Prabhas’ Adipurush, Kichcha Sudeep’s Vikrant Rona and Kabzaa just in the last one year. Tovino Thomas’ 2018, one of the biggest hits in Malayalam, didn’t work in Hindi.

“You can count successful “pan India films” on your fingertips. You cannot stop anyone from thinking big though. People actually watched a lot of south Indian films during the Covid lockdowns, and actors there became overnight sensations in other belts,” adds Adarsh. Manoj Desai, who has been a producer and now the executive director of G7 Multiplex, says he is disappointed with the hype which is created with the term. “Aisi films chalengi bhi nahi. Until and unless your content is not good, why will people come to watch it? Sirf bol dene se film India ko pasand nahi aayegi,” he says.

IS ‘PAN INDIA’ A GLORIFIED TERM FOR DUBBED SOUTH FILMS?

A film being released in multiple languages simultaneously, like Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada apart from Hindi is the basic skeleton of what constitutes a pan Indian film. Trade expert Atul Mohan explains, “Pan India term ek marketing tool hai, nothing more than that today. Producers feel jahaan itna paisa lag gaya hai, vahaan dubbing pe thoda laga dete hain. But it is actually a film which wins audiences upon it’s release, release se pehle nahi bol sakte aap kisi bhi film ko yeh. Makers just think now ‘bada budget, ek north ka actor, south ka actor, aur action film, bas isko pan India bol ke bechte hain’ Aise nahi hota, content bhi toh ho!”

Producer Anand Pandit, who presented the Hindi version of Kabzaa, simplifies, “These are films which will attract both Hindi and non Hindi belts. I agree that some makers, without understanding the need or requirement or attraction, just declare ki unki film pan Indian hai, ek obsession hai,” he says.

CROSS COLLABORATION- A BOON, OR JUST FOR EYEBALLS?

Many Hindi film actors- Raveena Tandon, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone have been roped in for Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films in the recent past. RRR had Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt in small roles. Is it to just tick off the north belt option on the pan India checklist? Vice versa too- Nagarjuna in Brahmastra, or even casting Prabhas as Lord Ram in Adipurush. In fact, Brahmastra’s director Ayan Mukerji had said, “He entered the world of Brahmastra… and greatly added to our dream – of creating a truly pan-India movie experience..”

Tandon, who starred in KGF 2, says, “I think this ‘pan India’ hype is a good thing. Today all our industries are converging into one big force. There is nothing about north or south film. A pan India film is one which cuts through all languages and barriers, yet is Indian at heart. When I was done with KGF 2 and shooting for another film in Rajasthan, people came up to me and said ‘KGF KGF’, I was surprised people in that state enjoyed a Kannada film. How fantastic is that?”

Shilpa Shetty Kundra, who stars in KD The Devil, adds, “The difference between KD and a usual Hindi film I have done is the lines have blurred. The market has become bigger. People enjoy the sensibilities of south films, storytelling, and a coming together of both a Hindi cast with a Tamil, Telugu, Kannada hero.”