Anupama Chopra: "The stories in 'RRR', 'Pushpa: The Rise', and 'KGF' are as essential as the telling of it"

The beauty of cinema is that there are no rules, no formulas and not one person can say with any surety what will work. After more than 25 years of reporting on the film business, I’ve learned to stay away from making generalizations like this. The boundaries between class and mass are also blurring.  How would one classify RRR? I think that’s a film that traverses any divisions. What will connect is a strong story and strong emotions. Which is the genius of SS Rajamouli—he grounds his extravagant vision in such overpowering emotions that it connects across class and mass.

For films to succeed in the remarkable manner that several films from the South have, craft and content go hand in hand. I don’t think that we can say that the art of storytelling is more prominent in the story. The stories in RRR, Pushpa: The Rise, and KGF: Chapter 2 are as essential as the telling of it.

I’m not sure that there is less dialogue. These films seemed as talk heavy as others to me. But the stories and the way they are told are connecting and crossing language barriers. Empowering writers is what Bollywood needs to do. We need to tell original stories with conviction and flair.

Hindi film audiences are now starting to look elsewhere seems to be the conventional wisdom, but I don’t think it’s as simple as that. The movie business is in a state of flux post the pandemic and it’s even harder now to predict what people will come out to see. I think there is definitely a trend towards larger, event movies. And yes, audiences have changed. But let’s see how this plays out.

It’s hard to say if Hindi-dubbed versions of South Indian films will result in fewer remakes being made. Afterall, the great American screenwriter William Goldman used to say about showbiz, ‘Nobody knows anything’. 

That’s more true today than ever. 

Lead Image: Still from Pushpa: The Rise