Manoj Bajpayee says that mainstream Bollywood filmmakers are afraid of the success of south films: ‘They don’t know where to look’
South Indian films have had huge success across the country, thanks to the recent trend of pan-India films. RRR (2022), KGF Chapter 2 (2022), Pushpa: The Rise (2021), and other films have raised debate about South Indian cinema's success. Manoj Bajpayee recently expressed his thoughts on the South Indian film industry's success, claiming that these back-to-back blockbusters have sent shivers down the spines of Mumbai's mainstream directors.
Allu Arjun's Telugu film Pushpa: The Rise established the trend of south films dominating the Hindi belt in the post-pandemic era. The Hindi-dubbed version of the film grossed 106 crore rupees. If that wasn't enough, SS Rajamouli's RRR and Yash's KGF broke new ground. Both films' Hindi versions have grossed over 300 crore each and are still in theaters. Many celebrities in Bollywood, including filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, have expressed their discontent with this.
Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee expressed his thoughts at the success of these South films. He said in an interview, "Itni blockbuster ho rahi hai (there are so many blockbusters)... forget about Manoj Bajpayee and the likes of me for a minute, it has sent a shiver down the spine of all the mainstream filmmakers from the Mumbai film industry. They really don’t know where to look."
The success of these films, according to the actor, has a lesson for Bollywood, which they must learn quickly. He added, . "They are unapologetic, they are passionate, and every shot they take as if they are taking the best shot in the world…They shoot a film as they have envisioned it, they don’t dumb it down for the audience because they hold their audience in the highest regard and their passion is supreme. We started thinking about mainstream films only in terms of money and box office. This is a lesson for Mumbai industry mainstream filmmakers on how to make mainstream cinema."
Manoj is currently working on two projects, Departure and Gulmohar, as well as season three of The Family Man.
