SS Rajamouli

The Biggest Indian Film of This Year Is Not a Bollywood Film. Rajamouli’s Baahubali Fever Created an Euphoria Generally Reserved for Marvel and Dc Films. Not Surprisingly, Baahubali 2 Has Made Producers and Distributors Ecstatic, Solidifying Rajamouli as a Bankable Film-maker to Look Forward to.

- Arnesh Ghose

The Hindi movie industry — and audience — has always treated southern cinema with ill-placed humour and disdain. The south Indian industries are treated as launch pads for actors who are too green (or not well connected enough) for Bollywood, and their films are generalized as OTT productions, raunch fests and gravity-defying, giggle-inducing action flicks. It is a tad hypocritical that Bollywood still enjoys the Rohit Shetty brand of cinema but is critical of south Indian masala flicks.

In the last decade, south Indian film industries have created a healthy atmosphere of experimentation, creative thinking, innovative technology and most importantly, risk taking. From big budget productions to mammoth canvases, generous use of CGI and exploration of genres that have been ignored till date in Indian cinema, south Indian cinema is going through an exciting period. Also, thankfully, independent cinema is also thriving with exciting projects being produced regularly, creating a fertile space for mainstream and indie artists to excel together.