of director SS Rajamouli in about seven months Baahubali: The Beginning It will be 10 years. It also means that it’s been almost a decade since the word emerged.Pan-Indian films“And the growing tendency to produce big-budget films designed to appeal to audiences across the country. These films often incorporate a degree of regional identity to appear connected, they tend to follow formulaic formats and broaden their reach, filmmakers often cast actors from different languages and releases these films worldwide, dubbing them into major Indian languages as well.
The rise of “pan-Indian” films has been both a boon and a bane for Indian cinema. On the positive side, these films have generated huge revenues, expanded box office limits and attracted more investors to cinema. They have promoted collaboration across industries by bringing lesser-known regional film industries into the limelight. However, this trend has also fueled toxic practices such as judging the quality of a film based solely on its budget and box office collections and undermining regional ethos and nuances to cater to a wider audience. As a result, the movies are starting to look generic and lacking in uniqueness.
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Although this strategy was very successful until a few years ago, its appeal is gradually waning. Despite producers pouring hundreds of crores into these massive “pan-Indian” productions hoping to multiply their returns, many of these films have now failed to live up to expectations. Regardless of star power or marketing hype, audiences are not willing to accept films that are poor in quality.
As 2024 approaches, it’s safe to say that this year has been a wake-up call for superstars and producers as audiences reaffirm their role as the ultimate arbiter of a film’s success. This year saw them mercilessly reject subpar films even if they were included in the budget, instead of valuing their time, money and taste; Awarded films that honored these investments. They too were not swayed by the “pan-Indian” tag, star power or grand visuals and only gave movies they deserved.
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Notably, 2024 saw the failure of many films that were marketed as “pan-Indian” spectacles or even headlined by major stars, especially as many of these films offered little beyond their hefty budgets and visual grandeur, which made audiences dismiss them outright. This year, audiences took a firm stand against poorly made “pan-Indian” films, which led to many of these projects flopping, scrapping as average grossers or becoming troll material after their OTT release. It is a clear sign that the era that prioritizes spectacle over substance is losing its grip.
The first major film to suffer such a fate was highly anticipated Malaikottai WalibanDirected by Lizo Jose Pellissery and starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal. Touted as the film that ended Mohanlal’s streak of impressive performances, it generated huge hype with fan shows across Kerala. However, its tone and content deviated from the usual superstar-driven formula and missteps in marketing and promotional language, used without considering the earlier point, resulted in the film facing setbacks. Despite the story’s lack of need, the makers tried to sell it as a “pan-Indian” film, a decision that backfired and ultimately contributed to its poor box office performance.
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Bollywood too saw a string of big budget flops. Films like Ali Abbas Zafar Big Mian Chote MianStarring Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff and Prithviraj Sukumaran, Ajay Devgan’s Maidan, Vasan Bala starring Alia Bhatt JigraSagar Ambare and Pushkar Ojha Yodha Starring Siddharth Malhotra and Aditya Dutt Crock Starring Vidyut Jammwal, all failed to live up to its hype. However, with a significant portion of Bollywood’s production set to suffer a similar fate in 2024, the industry faces deeper systemic challenges beyond the consequences of “pan-Indian” trends. And indeed, 2024 may go down as the worst year in the history of Bollywood.
In South India, especially in Tamil and Telugu cinema, the scenario was worse, with most of the leading stars facing dismal returns at the box office. The biggest disappointment was undoubtedly director S Shankar Indian 2In which Kamal Haasan reprized his iconic role as Senapati from the 1996 classic Indian. The original film won Kamal the National Film Award for Best Actor, but the sequel tarnished the legacy of both the film and its hero. Worse, the third installment was announced even before the release of Bharatiya 2, with Shankar revealing that Bharatiya 2 was split into two parts due to its length. Brands – Kamal, Shankar and franchises – that prompt producers to announce sequels in advance – are emblematic of the counterproductive tendencies brought about by this “pan-Indian” trend.
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Many other movies also suffered the same fate. From Malaikottai Valiban and director Koratala Siva Deora: Part 1 — starring Junior NTR, Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor — for Sukumar Flower 2: Rules — Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil — by Nag Ashwin Kalki 2898 AD – Headlined by Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Deepika Padukone – Siva’s Suriya-starrer KangwaMany big films end on cliffhangers designed to set up sequels, without stopping for a second to think that people won’t like these films, thus giving the announcement of a sequel at the end of the films a very bad decision.
Among the “pan-Indian” films that failed to live up to expectations were Venkat Prabhu’s The greatest of all time (GOAT), starring “Thalapathi” Vijay; Rohit Shetty is full of stars Singham again (with cameos by Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor and Salman Khan); and TJ Gnanavel’s VettaiyanStarring Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati and Manju Warrier.
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Although these films grossed well, none – except Pushpa 2 – achieved the level of success they had hoped for before their respective releases. However, reports indicate that the makers of Pushpaa 2 brought multiplexes to an agreement in which they were not required to screen any other film for the first 10 days of its release. One wonders whether the success of the film would have been remarkable without such a strategy.
Hence, the poor performance of other films should prompt producers to rethink their approach – going beyond the “pan-Indian” trend and investing wisely in projects only when necessary. Especially when the expenditure is made on the assumption of guaranteed multiple returns, it is unrealistic to expect the audience to make a profit from the film due to its inflated budget.
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