‘There are 10 cheap versions of SS Rajamouli’: Anurag Kashyap calls pan-India films an old phenomenon | Bollywood News

Director Anurag Kashyap does not miss a chance to express his disappointment in the state of Indian cinema today. From calling out Netflix for not enabling a show like Adolescence in India to relocating to the South for a sense of community in the film industry, he’s been flagging everything that’s wrong with Indian cinema today. Now, he’s addressed the flaws in the pan-India film phenomenon.
“Give access to students. I believe that give access of films, give access of books. Let them find themselves because each one should be an individual. Biggest example is there’s one (SS) Rajamouli. And then 10 cheap versions of Rajamouli. And all 10 cheap versions of Rajamouli can’t be Rajamouli because Rajamouli is an original, no? So everybody thinks he’s working so they try to copy him. But his ideas are coming from where, he knows. Similarly, one KGF works, everybody starts to do the same thing,” said Anurag.
SS Rajamouli has been dishing out blockbusters ever since the global success of the Baahubali franchise. He followed it up with another resounding success of RRR, a 2022 horical action drama starring Jr NTR and Ram Charan. The KGF franchise became the first one from the Kannada film industry to emerge as a pan-India blockbuster. Directed Prashanth Neel and produced Hombale Films, the KGF franchise is headlined Yash. However, in a masterclass at Annapurna College of Film and Media, Anurag insed that pan-India film from the South is not a new phenomenon.
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“When was pan-India not made? For me, pan-India was Pratibandh. For me, pan-India was Fauladi Mukka with Rajinikanth. For me, pan-India was Shiva with Nagarjuna. So pan-India is not a new thing. I was a child when I’ve seen pan-India films. It’s a formula, and why formula works is nobody is putting money from their own pocket. They’re taking money from somewhere else. In the name of pan-India, in the name of creating a picture of blockbusters, you’re taking somebody else’s money for your lifestyle. You’re not really making a film. That’s why I say that don’t make sausages. Sausages look like each other. Every student should be different from the other. They should bring their own specialty to the table,” Anurag added.
(Also Read — Anurag Kashyap seemingly refutes Abhay Deol’s claims about coming up with Dev D, narrates chain of events: ‘I hated the book so much’)
Pratibandh is a 1990 Hindi action film directed Ravi Raja Pinisetty, starring Chiranjeevi and Juhi Chawla. Fauladi Mukka is the dubbed Hindi version of SP Muthuraman’s 1983 action film Paayam Puli. Shiva is a 1990 Hindi action film adapted from Ram Gopal Varma’s 1989 Telugu film of the same name. It marked Nagarjuna’s Bollywood debut, and also starred Amala. Later, Anurag went on to co-write the screenplays of Satya (1998) and Shool (1999), which Ram Gopal Varma directed.