Blurring Boundaries: Here's how B-Town has become more inclusive

The biggest surprise of Tanuja Chandra’s sleeper hit Qarib Qarib Singlle wasn’t Irrfan, but Parvathy, a popular South actress, who made her debut in Hindi cinema with the romantic comedy. After Ileana D’Cruz and Taapsee Pannu, she is the latest artiste from regional cinema who has charmed her way into the audiences’ hearts. Last year, Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh managed to impress critics and audiences alike with his portrayal of an upright cop in Udta Punjab. Though his second film Phillauri didn’t set the cash registers ringing this year, Dosanjh will next be seen in a film based on the life of hockey player Sandeep Singh.

Apart from South and Punjabi cinema, Bollywood is gradually warming up to actors from other industries including Marathi too. 

While Sairat is being remade in Hindi as Dhadak by Karan Johar, the leading man from the Marathi superhit, Akash Thosar recently wrapped up shooting for Anurag Kashyap’s short film for an anthology that will release in 2018.

Marathi actress and Zee TV’s Dance India Dance host, Amruta Khanvilkar, will also be seen in Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi. Babumoshai Bandookbaz, directed by Kushan Nandy starred Bidita Bag from Bengali films. Now, she will be seen in T for Taj Mahal, Daya Bai, and Once Again. With actors from regional films making more appearances here, Bollywood seems to be opening its arms.

ONLY TALENT MATTERS

While casting an actor, talent alone takes precedence for the makers. Amruta says, “When Meghna ma’am saw my audition, it did not matter whether I was from regional cinema or not. I fit the role and that’s why I got it.” That was the criterion for Kushan, too, who says that filmmakers gravitate towards regional actors because they’re experienced and don’t have a set image. 

According to Tanuja Chandra, anyone with charm, talent, and a spark will be accepted. “And the cool thing with a new face is that when they surprise you, they really surprise you! So the viewers’ response after watching Irrfan in Qarib Qarib Singlle was ‘wonderful as always’ but with Parvathy, it was, ‘Who’s this new girl? She is lovely!” 

ALL THANKS TO CONTENT

Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi says that regional industries have great films that cut across the linguistic barriers, like Sairat and Diljit Dosanjh’s movies that do well even outside their states. “I don’t think people are looking for Bengali, Telugu, or Tamil cinema but great content. Things are anyway better because of subtitles. So, actors starring in these films have also become popular,” says Akshaye. 

Kushan adds that with Bollywood getting more experimental and content being of paramount importance, the industry welcoming regional actors is the need of the hour. “Most people here are surviving by thinking out of the box. Everything conventional is slowly becoming passé and soon, new faces will be accepted by the audiences and industry alike,” he says.

However, Tanuja thinks that Bollywood is still lagging behind when it comes to newer faces. “We should have many more actors coming from all industries. Filmmakers should be spoilt for choice, we must introduce new faces almost every Friday if possible. 

Audiences will always embrace a fabulous new actor and it’s good for business and creativity,” she emphasises. 

TIMES ARE CHANGING

It wasn’t difficult for Taapsee Pannu, a huge name in the South industry, to make her foray into Hindi films. But after her debut with Chashme Baddoor (2013), initially it was tough for her to land big-banner projects. She says, “I was always looked at as the South import, who was probably not even serious about Bollywood. I wasn’t sure if I was wanted here because so many faces debut each year.” 

Things finally started looking up when she managed to convince filmmakers that she was keen to pursue a career in here, and they saw her potential. “Earlier, the fight was how to get rid of the tag of being from the regional cinema but it’s so much better now,” Taapsee says. Amruta, too, believes that regional cinema has grown over the years and draws a lot of attention from everyone, especially mainstream Bollywood. 

About the changing face of the industry, Tanuja says, “The entertainment industry worldwide has grown hugely; television has been big for a while now but the digital world has burst onto the horizon and in these exciting times, new actors are the need of the day.”

REACHING OUT TO A WIDER AUDIENCE

Actors bring their talent to the table and fans from their respective regions, too. Taapsee elaborates, “I’ve a market in places where people don’t follow Hindi films so much. But they started watching these movies once they realised the actors whom they like feature in them. During Pink, I got a lot of requests from my fans who wanted to watch the film. So, we did reprints with subtitles.” She adds that Naam Shabana released in Tamil and Telugu. “That must have helped the film reach a larger audience than with just being a Hindi film,” she reasons.

With even Bollywood actors exploring regional cinema, the lines are gradually blurring. “There will come a time when there won’t be Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, or Bengali cinema but just Indian cinema,” concludes Akshaye.