Baahubali shows the way for movies to go pan-India

S.S. Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali, by virtue of being the costliest film (Rs 250 crore) ever made in India and the first film to garner a whopping Rs 200 crore within the first week of release, has definitely created history. The film attracted 100 per cent occupancy in theatres across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, while Tamil Nadu registered close to 70 per cent occupancy. High revenue in the Southern markets for a Telugu film is a given; but the surprise element in case of Baahubali is that it has managed to rake in Rs 40 crore from the Hindi-speaking markets too (the film has been dubbed in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi).

Typically, a Bollywood blockbuster makes next to nothing in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, while Andhra and Telangana contribute a measly 4 -5 per cent to its revenue. The same is true also in the case of movies from Southern India, which have hardly any takers in the Hindi belt. But Rajamouli's investment on cutting-edge special effects seems to have turned this trend on its head. "Special effects are language agnostic," says Vikram Malhotra, CEO, Abunduntia Entertainment, which produced Akshay Kumar's recent movie Baby.

Indian across the country are known to take well to action films loaded with special effects. Not surprisingly, when Hollywood films such as Jurassic World and Fast And Furious 7 were released to a wider audience, both managed to hit the Rs 100 crore revenue target. Even Shahrukh Khan's Ra.One, which is high on special effects, did better business in South and other regional markets compared to other Hindi films.

However, Baahubali, say, film-makers, also gives the first ray of hope for more pan-Indian blockbusters. "Baahubali has proved that if the content is universal even a Telugu film could do well in the North," says Malhotra.

What would have happened had a film with universal appeal like Baahubali had also been shot in Hindi and few other languages along with Telugu? The film would have probably garnered higher revenues, agree film-makers. "I would have loved to make Bajirao Mastani in multiple languages," says Ajit Thakur, CEO, Trinity Pictures, the motion pictures arm of Eros International, whose next big release is Bajirao Mastani, based on the life of Maratha ruler Baji Rao. Thakur says that as a studio, their focus would be on making more multi-lingual films.

While the second part of Bahubali is slated to be released next year, the first part has surely nudged film-makers not just to think Hindi or regional, but think pan-India