Telugu films were most successful in 2024. No wonder Anurag Kashyap wants to ditch Bollywood

New Delhi: The two biggest films of 2024 are Telugu blockbusters: Sukumar’s Pushpa 2: The Rule and Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD. The Allu-Arjun starrer Pushpa 2 is still going strong, and has raked in almost Rs 1,157.35 crore, in India alone. Kalki 2898 AD, which had Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Prabhas, earned Rs 1,052.5 crore. Perhaps that is why filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has decided to leave Mumbai and move to the South.

“Right from the beginning, before the film starts, it becomes about how to sell it. So, the joy of filmmaking is sucked out. That’s why I want to move out of Mumbai next year. I am going to the South. I want to go where there is stimulation,” the Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) director told The Hollywood Reporter India. This change of heart was fueled by his recent experience of being part of Aashiq Abu’s Malayalam film, Rifle Club. Kashyap plays a wacky gangster Dayanand Bare in the film, which also marks the movie debut of viral rapper Hanumankind.

Kashyap is unhappy with the lack of creativity in the Hindi film industry. “The mindset is to remake what’s already worked. They will not try anything new,” he said, highlighting the reluctance to take creative risks.

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South vs North cinema

The success of Telugu movies has everyone talking and arguing too. At a pan India producers’ roundtable organised by Galatta Plus, Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi got into a heated exchange of words. The roundtable also had actor-producer Siddharth, Archana Kalpathi, Chandini Ssasha and director-producer Don Palathara.

In the discussion, Vamsi interrupted Kapoor. “One thing, sir, you have to accept this. It might sound really harsh. We, South Indians, have changed the way you [Bollywood] look at cinema. Because, you guys were stuck in making films for Bandra and Juhu. You witnessed a change with Baahubali, RRR, Animal and Jawan,” said the producer of Lucky Bhaskar (2024) and Guntur Karam (2023).

Kapoor shook his head and disagreed, to which Vamsi said, “Sir, after Mughal-E-Azam, you used Baahubali and RRR , which were Telugu films. You never mentioned a Hindi film after Mughal-E-Azam.”

Kapoor looked visibly surprised by his peer, and responded sternly. “In this forum, we can’t be talking about every bit of knowledge we know. We need to talk in broader terms. When I mention Mughal-E-Azam, Baahubali and all that, it’s not that I’ve missed out on other films. I know those films. At the tip of my fingers, I can rattle out those names. But, it’s not like Telugu cinema has taught us. I don’t believe that.”

Kapoor added that the issue is about good and bad cinema as opposed to language-based films. He also said that ‘pan-india’ is a term that has become problematic, to which Archana Kalpathi also agreed, saying it can become restrictive for a filmmaker.

But the highlight of the video is the exchange of words between Kapoor and Vamsi, and even fans have taken sides in the discussion. “Vamshi anna smashing Bollywood like a pro,” read one comment, while another pointed out that Kapoor was hesitant in acknowledging the contribution of Telugu cinema.

(Edited by Ratan Priya)

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