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BOLLYWOOD-KOLLYWOOD SYNERGY! |
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Can
the two industries integrate? What are
we talking about? Bollywood and Kollywood!
For decades, the two industries have functioned
almost like islands. Little has been exchanged
between the two except for heroines and
the occasional story or concept in the
form of remakes. But, we are reaching
a stage where the exchange of resources
of all kinds has started taking off in
a much bigger way which gives rise to
the possibility of the two industries
beginning to function in a much more integrated
manner.
As mentioned above, heroines have been
perhaps the only talent pool that has
been consistently exchanged and shared
between both Bollywood and Kollywood.
There have been a very few instances before
2000 where artistes or major technicians
have been big names both in Kollywood
and Bollywood at the same time. There
was the occasional Ilaiyaraja masterpiece
in Hindi or a piece of scintillating choreography
from Prabhu Deva. But, other than such
flashes, things remained more or less
isolated. The change was started in a
big way by a few names that are now considered
the best in the country at what they do.
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It
was during the closing years of the 20th century that
Rahman broke through as a national superstar on the
music front. From then on, he has been the most wanted
musician of India, Kollywood or Bollywood irrespective.
He was perhaps the first person to break the north-south
divide. There were also names like Santhosh Sivan
(cinematography) and Sabu Cyril (art) who too defied
the one-industry norm and became highly popular technicians
all over India. Of course, there are a lot more names
these days that are known, respected and in-demand
all over India.
But, really, the integration of film industries happens
well and truly only when the two most pivotal persons/factors
of cinema begin moving about freely in both. Who are
they? The director and the hero (face it! The Indian
industry is still a hero-driven one, spare a few exceptions).
The last decade has seen a few directors make their
name in both the industries. But, sadly, it has been
a one directional flow from south to the north. Directors
from Bollywood have not shown much interest down south.
The idea and encouragement for directors down south
to try their luck in Bollywood came mostly from two
men – Mani Ratnam and Priyadarshan. While the
former has been a highly respected name right from
the mid-90s after the release of Bombay, the latter
started during the early 2000s and has since then
carved out a special dominion for himself which consists
mostly of Malayalam remakes in a glossed up avatar.
Following the inspirational success of these men,
the last couple of years have seen the big time entry
of south directors into Bollywood. First was Murugadoss
who wowed the Hindi audience with Ghajini which also
catapulted Asin into overnight superstardom. Prabhu
Deva too entered the scene with a bang delivering
Wanted, remake of Pokkiri. Now, we are hearing lots
of link ups between southern directors and Bollywood
which includes Gautham Menon with his remakes of VTV
and the extremely talented Mysskin who is reportedly
doing an adaptation of the novel ‘The Man from
Pakistan’ with John Abraham in the lead.
Add to that the growing popularity of the south leading
men in the north – Kamal Haasan has always been
a respected name up north if not a big star. Madhavan
has become the man for many directors when they want
an able and young actor to be cast in an unconventional
script and now Rajinikanth has shown that his Superstar
status might not be just a thing for the south with
the huge success of Robot; meanwhile we also have
Suriya going North under Ramgopal Verma with Rakth
Charithra. And, many of you might remember the key
role that Ajith played in Asoka. The door for south’s
leading stars seems to be opening up in Bollywood.
If things keep moving at this rate and if we also
start seeing some movement in the other direction
too (North to South), then we might come to a day
when Bollywood and Kollywood can be called integrated
or even synergized!
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