Intro : For the first time in Indian Cinema ‘Baahubali’ a film seems to be competing with the Hollywood.
Earmarking for itself gross revenue of 300 crore in just 9 days, Baahubali as a film has emerged as a 70mm cyclone that has taken the box office by a storm.
The costliest Indian Movie seems to draw several firsts in the history of Indian Cinema. Devoid of the conventional Bollywood masala that is mostly inclusive of Khans’, Raunchy dialogues and sellable dance numbers, Baahubali stands as an epitome of profound cinematic experience.
For the first time a film seems to be competing with the Hollywood, let alone drawing inspiration from it, as seen in the most Bollywood crass-involving foreign locations, and white faces as back dancers.
This must as well, give a hint to Bollywood filmmakers that their understanding of the Indian epics or mythology as a probable cinematic endeavor is highly underestimated. Much of this is accredited to the years of Cultural Marxism that has veined down through the aesthetics of cinematic art with an aim to make it more ‘politically correct’.
However, the trend of either eulogising the Arabic or the western cultural imprints has mostly been the blue-eyed-boy of Hindi cinema. Dravidian Cinema, on the other hand, is still more reminiscent of traditional heritage and culture, as suggested by many of their thematic imprints in cinema.
Just like our states, our cinema derives its classification on the basis of languages such as Bhojpuri, Marathi, Tamil, and Malayalam. Baahubali’s huge success across all the different linguistic pockets of India, makes its stature rise to an ‘Indian Film’ rather than a Telegu movie, considering the fact that- it got developed as a regional movie, and knew that its actors are not quite well known in the Hindi speaking belt.
Since they are the mechanism to convert individuals into audiences, cinema for long has been known as a unifying force. But, rise of Baahubali on the contrary, has been reportedly perceived as a rise in Indian resurgence of expressive arts.
Audiences watch movies for their faith in the entertainment value of cinema, and not as a synchronised experiment for pursuance of their individual faiths. Movies can only theme a religion, they cannot own it.
It is here that the constant need for highlighting the cultural, ethical, and traditional themes demands a justified portrayal in entertainment industry. Small Screen has been way ahead in this parameter at least. The Television industry has found flourishing ground on the likes and huge popularity of shows like Prithviraj Chauhan, Ashoka, Chandragupta Maurya, Buddha, Shivaji, Rani Lakshmi Bai, and Rana Pratap. —Divyansh Dev
