Bollywood actors through the lens of South Indian directors

A rundown into some of the Telugu and Tamil directors who have successfully presented Bollywood actors in a different light and gave major hits       

As the wave of pan India has caught in a huge way, the crossover between Hindi film actors and South Indian directors, particularly those belonging to Telugu and Tamil cinema (also known as Tollywood and Kollywood) has resulted in some successful collaborations. One of the earlier examples is Aamir Khan’s Ghajini (2008). Director AR Murugadoss made a significant impact with this Tamil remake.

Ghajini

Ghajini opened the 100-crore club in Bollywood; it was a major money spinner in those times. For Aamir Khan Ghajini was altogether a different film from what he was doing till then, it presented him in a massy avatar. In spite of the obvious comparisons to Suriya’s stellar acting, Aamir also left his own imprint particularly the physical part of it. He looked like a wounded tiger out on an avenging spree.

In spite of the obvious comparisons to Suriya’s stellar acting Aamir also left his own imprint particularly the physical part of it.

Kabir Singh

Before Kabir Singh, again a remake of a south (Telugu) movie Arjun Singh, Shahid Kapoor did not have a major solo hit. The likes of Jab We Met, Udta Punjab and Haider were hit movies no doubt but not commercial blockbusters. Though Padmaavat did more than 300 crores Ranveer Singh walked away with all the accolades and rightly so. But Sandeep Reddy Vanga gave Shahid a big spectrum to play with in Kabir Singh and the actor didn’t disappoint. Whether it is portraying the highly toxic and passionate love of Kabir or in the breakdown scenes Shahid did his best. Although the movie was pretty much a carbon copy of the original Shahid brought his own intensity to the role. Much like Ghajini this remake also did far bigger numbers than the original. It is a separate matter that Shahid could not capitalize on this blockbuster success later in his career.  

Kabir Singh gave Shahid Kapoor a big spectrum to play with and the actor didn’t disappoint

Jawan

It is a well-known fact that Shah Rukh Khan was going through a very rough patch both professionally and personally before the release of Siddarth Anand’s Pathaan and Atlee’s Jawan. For Atlee Jawan was a huge leap given that he had mostly collaborated with Vijay Thalapathy till then. For someone like him directing a megastar like Shah Rukh Khan is not a piece of cake.

But Atlee more than rose up to the challenge, he passed with flying colours. Atlee’s presentation of SRK particularly the father character of Vikram Rathore erupted huge cheers among the moviegoers. Shah Rukh also effortlessly slipped into the universe of Atlee having a lot of fun in a movie that has essentially 50 shades of SRK.

For SRK too it was a very profitable film both in terms of expanding his fan base and box office numbers. It was almost like a king size comeback with more than 700 crores.

Shah Rukh Khan also effortlessly slipped into the universe of Atlee

Animal

Animal directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga is easily the most polarizing movie of Ranbir’s career, more than even Sanju. Ranbir’s previous movies have also featured strained father and son relationships, but Animal took it to a whole new level. Animal showcased Ranbir in his darkest avatar till date, as Ranbir himself confessed that he was scared when he heard the script and had severe doubts about doing the role. However, to Ranbir’s credit he went full throttle and delivered a power packed performance though the story itself was highly controversial.   

Ranbir Kapoor’s darkest avatar till date

Kalki

Lastly there is this year’s Kalki directed by Nag Ashwin, a Telugu language epic science fiction film. The last few outings of Amitabh Bachchan have varied from just average to good. While he had solid roles in Jhund and Uunchai, in Bramhastra and Ganapath he didn’t have much to do. He was particularly wasted in Bramhastra as just a mere guru. But his fans and neutral audiences got the opportunity to see vintage Amitabh Bachchan with Kalki 2989 AD.

Bachchan had the best written role by a long margin and the senior actor just chewed the scenery with a stellar performance. The way he takes on the character of Prabhas was a sheer delight to watch. On many occasions he overshadowed the other cast members with just his towering screen presence. With his performance of Ashwatthama Bachchan showed that he can give any young actor a run for their money even at the age of 81.

For someone like Nag Ashwin too handling a film of this scale and directing someone like Amitabh Bachchan is a major achievement.

The fans and neutral audiences got the opportunity to see vintage Amitabh Bachchan in Kalki 2989 AD

Not so lucky ones

At the same time, it has to be said that working with south directors or in remakes of south films hasn’t proved to be so lucky for other Bollywood actors. Case in point is Akshay Kumar’s Sarfira, a remake of the Tamil hit Soorarai Pottru directed by Sudha Kongara. She also helmed the remake. Soorarai Pottru got both rave reviews and major awards. Suriya got the best actor award in the prestigious national awards; the movie also won an award for best film. Later Soorarai Pottru was also dubbed into Hindi with the name of Uddan. Hence it makes no business sense to remake it and not surprisingly Sarfira got added to the long list of commercial failures of Akshay post pandemic. Before Sarfira there was Bachchan Pandey, a remake of Jigarthanda. That was also a major commercial failure. Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan’s Vikram Vedha also turned out to be a box office turkey. Though Hrithik Roshan got good reviews for bringing his own touch to the role of Vedha, but it wasn’t enough for the movie to sail through.

Animal: A Chilling Psychological Portrait Of A Man Who Is Desperate To Get Love And Affection From His Father

Ranbir Kapoor and Anil Kapoor bring their A game but the conundrum of Sandeep Reddy Vanga persist

Rating: 2.5
Starcast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandana, Bobby Deol and others
Direction, Screenplay and editing: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Additional screenplay: Pranay Reddy Vanga and Saurabh Gupta
Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishna Kumar, Murad Khetani and Pranay Reddy Vanga
Music composers: Pritam, Manan Bhardwaj and others
Production Companies: Bhadrakali Pictures, T- Series Films and Cine 1 studios.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga is one of the few directors who became a big sensation with his very first film. Arjun Reddy (Kabir Singh in Hindi) was not just a box office success but it was also intensely scrutinized given the extreme raw nature with which he had depicted the love story of his protagonist.

Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna and Bobby Deol

With Animal the director dwells into another dark tale. This time it is about a father and son; Ranvijay Singh (Ranbir Kapoor) is the son of a successful industrialist Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor). Ranvijay considers Balbir as the best father in the world, this in spite of having many issues with him. He is sent out of the house twice by his father; first when he went with a gun to threaten his sister’s classmates for ragging her and the second time for a huge argument with his brother-in-law on the occasion of his father’s 60th birthday.  

After a brief love story, marriage and two kids in US Ranvijay returns to India when he comes to know his father was attacked and grievously injured. He decides to find out who his father’s enemies are. In this process his path crosses with that of Bobby Deol who turns out to be his stepbrother thirsting for revenge. Rashmika Mandanna is the disgruntled wife of Ranvijay. She bears the brunt of her husband’s violent actions and his obsessive love for his parent. Soon enough there are no traces of the man that she fell in love with.

A big strength of Animal is easily the twisted father and son dynamics. Sandeep Reddy Vanga doesn’t waste any time in establishing how much Ranvijay craves for his father’s affection along with the workaholic nature of the father. There is a wild streak in Ranvijay from a young age itself.

Anil Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra and Bobby Deol

As mentioned above there is a scene where Ranvijay’s sister comes home crying after a ragging incident. She calls up her father multiple times but Balbir doesn’t lift the phone. Later she pours out her frustration to Ranvijay who immediately goes to her college with a gun. Not surprisingly Balbir gets pissed with his son and ends up slapping him.

This scene successfully sets the base for the friction between father and son. The gradual progression of Ranvijay into an ‘Animal’ has been well staged and does send a chill down the audience’s spine.

The emotional bits between father and son in the later stages are also directed well. There is a scene in the pre-climax where Ranvijay does a role reversal with his father, that is, Ranvijay acting as the dad and Balbir acting as the son. The long years of inner frustration and Anil Kapoor’s repentance packs a big punch.

Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna

Bobby Deol appears only in the second half. His scenes are few but Bobby makes a solid impression just with his eyes and overall physical demeanor. The climatic fight between him and Ranbir has lot of raw action and is definitely a delight for those who like this kind of action.

But the overdose of blood and violence is a definite put off. The scenes of Ranbir hacking and killing several men gets nauseating after a point.

Another major flaw with Animal is the depiction of its female characters. They are mostly there only to bear the brunt of men. The best example of this is Rashmika’s Geetanjali. There is an important scene in the second half when Geetanjali has a severe argument in a high pitched tone with her husband. This is because of an affair that Ranvijay had behind her back.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director

Ideally the viewers should have rooted for Geetanjali but Rashmika’s screaming makes it difficult to empathize. Another example of a badly written female character is that of the one played by Tripti Dimri. She is a moll who is sent to seduce Ranvijay by Bobby Deol. Ranvijay knows that she is a moll but still ends up having a physical relationship and also makes her lick his shoes to prove her love. This is, to say the least is in very bad taste. 

The music composed by Pritam, Harshavardhan Rameshwar and others make for a good listen. The songs that stand out are Satranga and Pappa Meri Jaan.

Not surprisingly it is Ranbir and Anil Kapoor who lead the acting department. Both the actors get into the zone of Sandeep Reddy Vanga with zero inhibitions.

Animal is not a film that can be slotted as either good or bad. Still there is enough to enjoy if you are a fan of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s style of filmmaking or if you like Ranbir and Anil Kapoor’s acting. But it is clear that Sandeep Reddy Vanga hasn’t learnt anything from the criticism of Arjun Reddy.

South Indian film directors who won hearts with their Bollywood outings

An overview of South Indian filmmakers who tried their luck in Hindi cinema with varying degrees of success.

In the last few years, more South Indian film directors have been working with Bollywood stars. We have seen Prabhudeva directing the likes of Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar and Atlee directing the Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan in the recent blockbuster hit Jawan.

Not that this trend didn’t exist earlier; both Bapu and K Viswanath had directed nine films each in the 1980s and 1990s. Filmmaker K Viswanath remade his own classic Swathi Muthyam (1986) as Eeshwar (1989) with Anil Kapoor.

K Raghavendra Rao also directed quite a few Hindi films — all were remakes of his Telugu movies. He debuted in Bollywood with Nishana (1980) starring Jeetendra and Poonam Dhillon. It was a remake of the Telugu movie Vetagadu (1979).

However, Jeetender-Sridevi’s Himmatwala (1983) helped Rao make a mark for himself in Hindi cinema. It, again, was a remake of the Telugu flick Ooriki Monagadu (1981).

Raghavendra Rao followed it up with films like Tohfa (1984), Masterji (1985), Suhaagan (1986), and Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa (2001), to mention a few.

In the later years, Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma carved their niche in Bollywood.

Following are some prominent South Indian film directors who went North starting from recent times to slightly old:

Atlee

Atlee has established his credibility as a successful commercial director in a short period. His stories always have shades of other films, particularly the hangover of Shankar’s films.

But Atlee has mastered the art of mixing all the elements in the right proportion with strong political and social touches. A good example of this is his Hindi debut Jawan starring Shah Rukh Khan which has already become a bigger blockbuster than Pathaan (2023).

Shah Rukh has done mass films in the past too. But Atlee’s presentation of the actor is something that’s never seen before.

What also makes Jawan such a monstrous hit is the rousing manner in which Atlee dealt with several problems plaguing our society. The director’s conviction is such that the viewers don’t mind the not-so-subtle treatment.

Not surprisingly, Atlee has become a hot-shot director with whom many actors would want to work. There are already rumours of Atlee doing a film with the National Award winner Allu Arjun.

Prabhudeva

Before foraying into Hindi Cinema Prabhudeva directed two Telugu films — Siddharth-Trisha’s Nuvvostante Nenoddantana (2005) and Prabhas-Trisha’s Pournami (2006). The first one did well at the box office and the second one got critical acclaim.

Prabhudeva

Before foraying into Hindi Cinema Prabhudeva directed two Telugu films — Siddharth-Trisha’s Nuvvostante Nenoddantana (2005) and Prabhas-Trisha’s Pournami (2006). The first one did well at the box office and the second one got critical acclaim.

In 2012, Prabhudeva teamed up with Akshay Kumar for Rowdy Rathore, another remake. This time, it was the super-hit Telugu Film Vikramarkudu (2006) featuring Ravi Teja in a dual role. Rowdy Rathore went on to gross more than that of Wanted.

Post-Rowdy Rathore, Prabhudeva delivered movies that have largely missed the mark. The likes of R… Rajkumar (2013) were moderate successes, but his style of loud filmmaking has gone past its expiry date.

AR Murugadoss

AR Murugadoss is one of those filmmakers who want to entertain and enlighten.

Suriya-starrer Ghajini (Tamil, 2008) is a significant film in his career. Compared to his other works, Ghajini is cut from a different cloth as there is nothing political about it. It is a revenge drama revolving around a protagonist who suffers from a certain kind of amnesia due to a severe head injury.

Murugadoss remade the film in Hindi with the same name and with Aamir Khan as the protagonist. We all know how big a hit it is — more than the original. This was because of his skilful direction and also Aamir Khan’s dedication.

The director’s second Hindi film was also a remake of his own Tamil film Thuppaki (2012).

Akshay Kumar played Vijay Thalapathy’s role in Holiday: A Solider is Never Off Duty (2014). It was also a commercial success, but Thuppaki was more entertaining.

Puskhar-Gayatri

The duo of Puskhar-Gayatri remade their own Tamil film Vikram Vedha (2017) into Hindi in 2022 with Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan. What made Vikram Vedha a cut above the usual cop versus gangster drama was the moral ambiguities analysed through the Vikram and Betaal analogy.

A striking aspect of the Hindi remake was the more messy and flamboyant way in which Hrithik Roshan was presented as Vedha. This added a different dimension along with the Lucknow setting.

The Hindi Vikram Vedha wasn’t a box-office success, but Hrithik’s performance was vastly appreciated in terms of how he made Vedha his own.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Sandeep Reddy Vanga has already become a much-talked-about director despite making only two films — Vijay Deverakonda-starrer Arjun Reddy (Telugu, 2017) and its Hindi remake Kabir Singh (2019).

Kabir Singh starring Shahid Kapoor was a huge hit but the uproar was also equally big.

Now, he is making a straight Hindi film Animal with Ranbir Kapoor. There is a lot of curiosity and intrigue about this movie because of the title and also the violent depiction of the protagonist in the earlier one.

Gowtam Tinnanuri

Gowtam Tinnanuri made his Telugu film directorial debut with Malli Raava (2017). But it was Jersey (2019) starring actor Nani that made Gowtam a successful director.

This sports drama won a lot of acclaim along with commercial success. In the year 2021, it won several national awards which include Best Director and Best Actor as well.

Gowtam tried to recreate the same magic with Shahid with a nearly identical storyline except for setting it in Chandigarh.

The Hindi Jersey had some good reviews but suffered on account of the remake fatigue. The Punjabi setting also didn’t add any new dimension to the story.

In short, Shahid Kapoor’s strategy of getting another remake hit bombed badly.

Vishnu Vardhan

Tamil director Vishnu Vardhan made his Hindi debut with Vikram Batra’s biopic Shershaah (2021). He was appreciated for not making the flick overtly jingoistic and showing a certain restraint.

Vishnu Vardhan’s directorial skills particularly come out in the second half when the war drama sets in.

Shershaah had a direct OTT release, but it should have been ideally released in theatres.

Not surprisingly, Siddarth Malhotra got some good reviews for his performance as Vikram Batra.

Now, let’s go to the slightly older ones Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma.

Mani Ratnam

Before the film Dil Se (1998), made directly in Hindi, Mani Ratnam was already a known face in the North, thanks to Roja (1992) and Bombay (1995) dubbed in Hindi.

Dil Se was the third one in the trilogy of Roja and Bombay as this film also had the backdrop of insurgency.

Over the years, the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer has acquired a cult of its own thanks to AR Rahman‘s scintillating music coupled with the intense performances of Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala.

After a long gap, Mani Ratnam simultaneously shot Aayutha Ezhutu (2004) in Tamil and Yuva (2004) in Hindi. Yuva was a significant game changer for Abhishek Bachchan before Guru (2007) and Sarkar (2005) happened. In Yuva, Abhishek Bachchan was brilliant as a ruffian with political ambitions.

After Dil SeGuru was Mani Ratnam’s second straight Hindi film. The film was loosely based on the industrial tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani. It won critical appreciation along with good money. It is easily the most memorable solo outing of Abhishek Bachchan.

However, their next collaboration Raavan (2010) turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions. Despite a solid storyline, the movie turned out to be a cringe-fest both in acting and direction.

Ram Gopal Varma

Ram Gopal Varma scored a sixer with his debut Hindi film Satya (1998), a cult classic. It was the start of many more movies dealing with organised crime and the nexus between politicians and the underworld.

The film focuses on the life of an immigrant Satya (JD Chakravarthy) who visits Mumbai in search of a job. He gets drawn to the underworld by the gangster Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai).

Satya gave birth to a lot of new talent, the chief among them being Manoj Bajpai and Saurabh Shukla. Their characters are remembered more than the lead hero.

It was followed by an equally successful Company (2002). The film was loosely based on the fallout between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. Vivek Oberoi made a very promising debut as Chandrakant aka Chandu.

In both films, Varma was successful in humanising gangsters instead of painting them as cardboard cuts with no nuances.

He added more feathers to his cap with Sarkar (2005) and Sarkar Raj (2008). In these movies, the director combined Godfather (1972, 1974 & 1990) elements with that of Balasaheb Thackeray. Both the flick had the perfect mix of style and substance.

Ram Gopal Varma also directed the romantic-comedy Rangeela (1995) with Aamir Khan and Urmila.

Romance is the last thing that viewers associate Varma with. But to the director’s credit, he did pull off an enjoyable watch which also was a satire on the film industry.

But in the recent past, the filmmaker has been making one embarrassing movie after another. Sadly, the viewers are now more interested in what controversial remarks he would make rather than his works.

Priyadarshan

There was a period when Priyadarshan was a successful director in Hindi as well. Most of his Hindi films are remakes of his Tamil and Malayalam movies. But the director, more often than not, hit a jackpot.

He debuted in Hindi cinema with Muskurahat, a comedy-drama, which was a remake of his Malayalam film Kilukkam (1991).

Priyardarshan was a major reason behind the emergence of Akshay Kumar as a comic actor. In fact, many of Priyardarshan’s Hindi films featured Akshay Kumar.

The filmmaker delivered many flicks that have been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. He delivered a good number of superhits like Gardish (1993), Virasat (1997), Hera Pheri (2000), Hungama (2003), Hulchul (2004), Malamaal Weekly (2006), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), and Rangrezz (2013).

However, things have been going downhill, of late, with Priyadarshan not being able to reinvent himself. A good example of this is Hungama 2 (2021) which was released on Disney+Hotstar. It opened to negative reviews.

Well, this list is not exhaustive. I am sure many more South Indian film directors have done movies in Hindi earlier too. But Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan is the latest and the most significant film in this trend.