Naga Vamsi and Anurag Kashyap aren’t saying anything new, but is Hindi cinema really in jeopardy?

Now, does his statement hold any truth to it? Well, let’s look at Hindi cinema’s biggest grossers of 2024. The top five is made up of Pushpa 2: The Rule, Stree 2, Kalki 2898 AD, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, and Singham Again. Interestingly, the dubbed version of Pushpa 2 and Kalki have made the cut, and both Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Singham have their origins in the South. But if you look at the next five that make up the top 10, there is Fighter, Shaitaan, Munjya, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, and Crew. It is a rather interesting dichotomy. However, Naga Vamsi’s statements have created quite a flutter on social media with people losing their calm over this showboating. Some others are heralding this as the ascension of South cinema, especially Telugu, to the top of the food chain. While some argue that it is still the Hindi versions that are making the money, the rather uneasy consensus is that South masala cinema sensibilities seems to be find a way of bringing people to the theatres.

But before Naga Vamsi said what he said, long before Boney Kapoor defended the way he did, and even years before Sanjay Gupta took offence to the Telugu filmmaker’s brazen attitude, there was this one filmmaker who said something very very similar. His name was Anurag Kashyap, and he insisted Bollywood needed an immediate upheaval. 

Anurag argued that storytelling is getting stale, actors are turning stars and forgetting what brought them to cinema in the first place, and filmmakers are concentrating on labelling their audience instead of just making the film they want to make. Even recently, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Anurag said he wants to move away from Mumbai to a place where he feels respected. This isn’t the first time Anurag is showing displeasure about how the Hindi cinema ecosystem is working.  Earlier, when he made similar statements, he was a filmmaker who had made Gangs of Wasseypur. Everybody listened to him. You saw makers backing films about the Hindi heartland. You had stories being told about the everyman. You had protagonists who felt relatable to the masses. Everyone went back to their roots. But then, just like how nothing succeeds like success, nothing stops you right in the tracks like failure. 

Over the past five years, we have seen all kinds of films coming from Hindi cinema. We have the biopics, the war films, the propaganda films, the usual romcoms, the sequels, the prequels, the threequels, the franchises, the reboots, the remakes, the original films, the rural dramas, the urban aspirational films, and many more. And yet, there has been no film that cracked the national consciousness of the country except ones starring Shah Rukh Khan in his comeback from the sabbatical. Otherwise, there hasn’t been films that have captured the entire country’s imagination. That wasn’t the case a few years back, and it could also be because South cinema has become self-sufficient in this time. They don’t have to look up for films to encompass their time and imagination. They are the ones delivering it now. Probably why the Hindi to other language remakes have diminished in the past few years. And that is why Naga Vamsi and Anurag Kashyap’s statements about returning to the roots, moving outside the ivory towers seem to resonate more, albeit with a punch to the gut.

However, now when Anurag, who has 4-5 films in developmental hell, says something similar, the industry isn’t paying too much heed. When he says talent management agencies are manufacturing stars and their images without making them better actors, no one really bats an eyelid. His words come from years of being an industry insider and yet an outsider for all intents and purposes. His views comes from the understanding of how many industries in India works, including the indie scene. But what was once seen as gospel is now seen as gibberish. All the focus then is fixed on one Telugu producer saying Hindi cinema should learn from the South. Why? Because Telugu cinema is on an upward swing. People only listen to the successful ones. 

But should Hindi cinema be worried about this comparison? Probably not. Unlike how Hindi films run across the world in its original language, the theatre-going Hindi cinema audience isn’t suddenly going to embrace the Pushpas and the Devaras in its original version. They still need the familiarity of the language. Even if it is the futuristic Kalki 2898 AD or the fictional Devara or the rooted Pushpa, the Hindi cinema audience aren’t too invested in the lip-sync. They want a story to be told with conviction, and be taken seriously as an audience. They want to see themselves on screen. What Naga Vamsi said isn’t something that hasn’t already been said. How he said it is definitely a contentious matter, but that can be kept aside to look at the larger picture. 

In any jungle, there is just one king. For ages now, Hindi cinema’s greatest rival was the more powerful English films that ate into the market with sheer hype and reach. Now, Hindi cinema is that English cinema for its fellow regional films that want a lion’s share of the prize. Telugu cinema is at the pole position now, wanting to be the alpha, and it is a fair enough want considering the tremendous showing over the past few years. 

There is no point beating around the bush and saying ‘We are all one’ because we aren’t, and that’s the beauty of it all. Why is there a tremendous influx of cross-industry talent sharing now more than ever in Hindi cinema? Did these talents just crop up? No, it is the market that decided this crossover. Everyone involved in this exchange knows it. Why put up a facade? As Anurag said, “Hindi cinema’s mindset has to change.” Of course, it makes sense to put the money where there is money already. But let’s not make it something deeper than it actually is. 

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Humility is overrated in a world where competition is cutthroat. There is a viral Rohit Shetty clip that resurfaces every time there is the whole South vs North debate. During the promotion of Cirkus, he points out how the Hindi cinema audience has grown up watching one Hindi blockbuster after another, and says, “One bad year, and you are writing off Hindi cinema?” Well, that is not humble by any standards, but it doesn’t have to be because that is the legacy of Hindi cinema. It will do South cinema stakeholders a whole level of good if they remember the story of Icarus. Because at the end of the day, every industry is territorial by nature. It is in our DNA. Hindi cinema was given a leeway of a couple of years by their audience, who might give South cinema just a couple of weeks. The movers and shakers would be waiting for the slightest of falls, and Murphy’s law states that it is right around the corner… but till then… Well, the loudest roar echoes the most.