It’s larger than life. It’s bigger and better. Big budget movies are back with a bang. It’s time to celebrate the hero and get into some hero worship mode. A trend that has come and gone with Rajinikanth and come back and this time it looks like it’s here to stay. Among all the recent big budget movies – like Pushpa, RRR, KGF Chapter 2, Beast, Radhe Shyam and others like Vikranth Rona in the pipeline, one thing that stood out was the hero. The real crowd puller, who jumped out of nowhere, walked in slow motion with a swag that could kill and with or without arms and ammunition; killed hundreds of his enemies at one go, as his fans hooted, whistled and continued to want more and more of their super hero with special effects.

Yash, Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun, Prabhas and others of their league are international figures of prominence now. The 1000 crore targets are defying all expectations and are not unheard of anymore. Their fans flock for first day first shows imitating their hairstyles, their hero’s clothes, their mannerisms for that matter and even learn their favourite hero’s punchlines and dialogues by heart. We speak to some of the popular names from the South Indian industry on their opinion of this trend of big budget hero-oriented blockbuster hits releasing in multiple languages, that portray the protagonist as a larger than life super hero, almost a demi God of sorts.

Priyamani
Better late than never! I’m very happy that the South Indian movies are finally getting their due in the north too and we all are called Indian movies and Indian actors rather than south and north actors. I am so happy to see that they are getting fantastic response from not just everywhere in India, but from people all over the world.

Karthik Jayaram
The success of all these films is an eye opener to the Indian film fraternity that regional language movies should not be taken lightly. We should start feeling proud of every movie, every actor, every technician as an Indian talent who are spreading the art globally and making India proud. Not to forget “Art is an emotion and a medium to connect every human”.

RRR was a challenge to Rajamouli sir, as he had to balance with two superstars keeping in mind not to hurt their fans and still make it a success.

Pushpa was a great experimental subject and a challenge to portray a superstar reaching every class of audience.

KGF was a great example of crafting a script to its highest potential and upholding each character without losing their value.

Beast was about enhancing the power of a powerful actor like Vijay Sir to the next level.

Radhe Shyam is a shocking subject for Prabhas Sir’s fans after seeing him as an action hero in Bahubali and Sahoo. As an actor it is the most difficult transition.

Dhanya Ramkumar
The recent trend in pan India releases has instilled my faith in the idea that we will soon be one consolidated industry which when looked at from the global perspective makes complete sense!
Indian film fraternity has a nice ring to it! Watching KGF, Pushpa and RRR has been such an experience really larger than life. KGF especially has drawn a lot of attention to our Sandalwood film industry and as a Kannadiga, I’m extremely proud! Content wise south cinema has always delivered, now we’re delivering on all levels be it technical aspects or otherwise and that just goes to show that we are growing as a whole! Kudos to Yash sir and Prashanth Neel sir as well as the whole cast and crew of KGF, Pushpa and RRR for these truly unforgettable cinematic experiences.

Sharmiela Mandre
The budgets of these films are so massive that things like casting the bigger stars, technicians and production value etc also goes up and the mounting of such films are much bigger since there is not a huge limitation on budget. So things on the creative side also can be larger than life and one can expect great expectations visually which are very much appreciated by audiences on the big screen. Personally as a movie lover, I like realistic films and unique scripts some of which have been released only on OTTs during the lockdown, but once in a way I like watching these big films too in theatres, because they take me into a different world visually. And the canvas is larger than life.

Aryann
Recent south releases like KGF, RRR, Pushpa, Radhe Shyam are large canvas films with cross border, non-regional themes of emotions and content that resonate with pan Indian audience and international audiences alike.

In the past regional cinemas had budget constraints but with pan India release and earlier acceptance of films like Bahubali and KGF 1, it is clear that regional movies can cross borders and gain acceptance as Indian cinema.

The films content boasts of excellent technical specs that can cater to an international audience.

There is growing trend in collaboration for production and distribution that helps film makers to form big budget movies.

South cinema has pioneered heroism and mass appeal and it’s making style is unique gaining a larger audience.

Rahul Dev Shetty
I am absolutely loving the trend. Earlier only Rajinikant or Kamal Hassan from the south enjoyed some recognition, but these films have rocked the box office. I think the makers have cracked what the masses want with a good story line, with sentiments and picturising them in a grand scale with cool effects, where every frame looks like a painting and the high octane action sequences with some amazing background scores and not to forget the foot tapping songs are all ingredients in making a big Box office hit. I guess the pandemic also played its part by conditioning the audiences to a lot of south Indian content over the OTT and they were more open to watching south films once the theatres opened. I am glad that now with Bollywood stars also working in these south films, we can get rid of the cliched nomenclatures like Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood etc and call them the Indian film industry and we south Indian stars will be pan Indian stars from now on. This would improve the way foreign audiences perceive Indian films, giving Indian films more visibility at prestigious International award functions.

Nicole Faria
I feel that now south movies are now being watched all over and are complete wholesome entertainment. The humble Indian finds a fantasy land with these movies. The story lines are remarkable and talk about the sensational drama we often hear or read about with an added twist, so we are eager to learn more. Movies are always larger than life. The storyline is interesting, there is drama, action, amazing dialogue delivery, the audience stays connected to the storyline right through the movie and it’s entertaining. What more does an audience want? Everyone looks forward to big budget movies more so specifically to these films because it consists of all things mentioned above. Pushpa did remarkably well and Allu Arjun did a fantastic job as an actor. I have worked with him in a hero glamour bike television commercial and it was a great experience. Everyone has seen Allu Arjun as a stylish actor but in Pushpa he was portrayed as a humble man who stuck to his character throughout. He definitely excelled in his role. Yash’s dialogue delivery in KGF was exceptional. RRR is a visual treat in itself. In Radhe Shyam, I really liked the magic that you are the creator of your own destiny.

Sathish Selvakumar
The film Pushpa is a strong mainstream film and the character Pushparaj in the film is a strong one. I like Radhe Shyam as it’s a periodic love subject and on the technical front, this film is a visual treat. I think the songs, screenplay, Prabhas and the background score are the strength of the film. The film RRR is Rajamouil’s magic and it’s a grand launch of two people’s friendship and emotions. After watching KGF people had more expectations from KGF2. The film is Rocky Bhai’s attitude and characterisation of how an ordinary boy creates an empire for the promise he made to his mother and in all aspects that were conveyed to the audience. The main strength of the film is the technicians and sound effects.

Preetha Jayaraman
The audience are waiting to watch grand spectacles on screen with their favourite heroes who are larger than life. They are willing to pay good money to come to the theatres to watch these films. Like Avengers and other large scale big budget Hollywood franchises which thrive across the globe, here too films are made on a grander scale to sustain the thrill of watching movies on the big screen in theatres. Their success is essential for the growth of the film industry. Just like a publishing house will have to make money with potboilers in order to print and distribute serious literature that may not easily attract such a wide fanbase as the potboilers similarly film studios should continue to churn out these huge blockbusters so that they have the wherewithal to also produce smaller movies with more serious content. The success of these big movies is essential for the production of smaller films, too.

Delhi Prasad Deenadayal
Now pan India trend is going on and there are films like RRR and Pushpa that have reached everyone all over India with their mass appeal. Actually, our south films have always reached all over India like Kamal Hassan and Shankar used to get dubbed but there was no theatrical release. South films always have a lot of respect in the North. Our technicians and cinematographers are much celebrated there and in recent times after the OTT trend scriptwriters and directors are getting a lot more exposure, especially from the Malayalam industry. Now, RRR and KGF2 have reached all over India not only due to the huge star cast but the brilliance in storytelling. This trend will give us more good films and a better name for Indian cinema.

Kala Master
Most of the South Indian technicians are working in North Indian films and many don’t know that south Indians are very talented. Many directors like Shankar, AR Murugadoss, Mani Ratnam, and Priyadarshan have done Bollywood films, but Bollywood directors haven’t done much of South films. It’s really nice to see South Indian movies are appreciated all over India.

Nikki Galrani
I have watched all these movies recently and I’m so happy and proud that all of these South Indian films are such large scale and amazing projects. It’s great that they are all doing so well pan India. The effort that goes into making a film like that is not easy. It’s a huge team effort and a lot of hard work and not just a lot of money involved but a lot of time as well.