"Baahubali 2: The End" will land in mainland China theaters on May 4, 2018, a full year later than the release time in India. China has imported a lot of Indian films, but this one has its particularities. It is the most expensive movie in Indian history, the Indian box office champion, and the dark horse of North American overseas films. Apart from these labels, there is another little known, "Baahubali" is not produced in Bollywood, which we are familiar with, but from another film center in India-Tollywood (Tollywood).
As early as the 1940s and 1950s, Indian films were introduced to China. Almost all the older audiences wiped out the love tragedies in "Caravan" and "Wanderers". Since then, China-India relations have experienced twists and turns, but Indian films have never stopped penetrating Chinese fans. Until recent years, Indian films have ushered in a spurt of development in the Chinese market, from the high reputation of "Three Fools in Bollywood" to "Wrestle!" With the box office miracle of "Dad", Indian movies have increasingly become a role that cannot be ignored in the global film market, and "Bollywood" has almost become synonymous with Indian movies. Had it not been for SS Rajamouli to take the "Baahubali 2: The End" to win the Indian box office champion and break into the Chinese and North American markets, most viewers would not even know that there is a "Tollywood" in India.
India is a multi-ethnic and multilingual country. There are nearly 20 official languages in the Federation alone, and differences in languages and regions directly lead to differences in culture. Bollywood as we know it is the North Indian Film Center, which produces films mainly in Hindi; while Tolywood is the South Indian Film Center, located in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. The film dialogue uses Telugu and Mainly Tamil. However, because the Hindi-speaking population is the largest, and Bollywood has stronger financial and technical strength, for many years, Indian films have been the only one in the domestic and overseas markets for Bollywood. Although Tollywood has a huge annual output, it has almost always been self-produced and sold, and self-entertained. Many movies are even directly reproduced from Bollywood to meet the needs of the Telugu-speaking population.
Based on this situation, SS Rajamouli's ambition and courage are even more admirable. With almost one person, he tried to break the state of South Indian movies going around in the local area and drag Tollywood into a wider market. In 2012, SS Rajamouli made a small test to shoot the fantasy film "Kung Fu Fly", which has achieved a good reputation at home and abroad; in 2015, the most expensive film in Indian history, "Baahubali: The Beginning", was released and it was amazing. Audiences from all over India and North America; in 2017, "Baahubali 2: The End" was released and became the box office champion in Indian history. In recent years, Bollywood has paid more and more attention to realist themes, and films that have achieved high box office and high reputation at home and abroad have shown reflections on the status quo of Indian society. In such an environment, SS Rajamouli broke the cultural "enchantment" with an extremely romantic movie born out of ancient Indian mythology, allowing global audiences to see another possibility of Indian movies.
Today, Hollywood blockbusters have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and have even begun to cause aesthetic fatigue. But why can an Indian special effects blockbuster make people shine and even create a box office miracle? The author believes that the reasons can be summarized as follows.
First of all, the "Baahubali King" series evokes the collective memory of the Indian people about myths and legends. The film was born out of the Indian epic work "Mahabharata", which depicts a series of struggles between the two descendants of the Bharata tribe for the right to inherit the throne. This story is known to women and children in India, and it can be said that "Mahabharata" is to the Indian people, just like "A Rare in Heaven" is to the Chinese people. Because of this, "Baahubali" had a good mass base before filming. Of course, water can carry a boat and can also overturn it. The more well-known stories are, the higher the audience's expectations, and the more severe the test for the director and screenwriter.
"Bahubali King" handed in a satisfactory answer. Rich and rich colors, beautiful palace buildings, ancient Indian city-states with different styles, mysterious and beautiful natural scenery like a fairyland... These elements combine to achieve a high-quality presentation of myths and epics visually. Especially in the final war scene, although the special effects are still some distance away from Hollywood, its mysterious atmosphere and majestic imagination are astounding, fully creating the prosperity and chaos of the empire era.
Secondly, the character image is very popular. Although as a commercial blockbuster with complicated character relationships, the characters will inevitably become facial makeup, but the personality charms shown by several positive characters represent the most cherished virtues of Indians since ancient times. Such as the kindness of Baahubali, the loyalty of Katapa, the perseverance of Devashina. In particular, it is worth mentioning that the female images in the film are often more brave and honest than the male characters. Whether it is Avadika in "The Beginning" or the Deva Sina in "The End", although they are beautiful and impossibly attractive, they are not so beautiful. The image of the female warrior appeared. When Baahubali wanted to return to the country as a prisoner and resolve the misunderstanding of her mother, Baahubali said, "You have won my heart. Even if you let me become a slave, I will be willing, but I will never be a slave." A prisoner." When the Queen Mother asked Deva Sina to marry Baahubali's brother, she crossed her eyebrows and said, "The princess has the right to choose her husband." Thinking about the sharp gender equality issues in Indian society today, she couldn't help but feel a little sigh.
Compared with "The Beginning", the progress of "The End" is not only reflected in the special effects, but also in the behavior of the characters. The position of the characters in the first part is more distinct, and the good guys and the bad guys are basically dualistic. But in the second part, the irreparable mistakes are often good people with a strong sense of morality and mission. For example, the wise queen mother credulously believed in the slander, but the loyal Katapa killed Baahubali with his own hands. The setting of good people making mistakes adds to the fate and mythology of the story, which is very similar to ancient Greek mythology.
Thirdly, "Baahubali" changed the usual way of filming Indian historical films. There are not many movies with historical themes in India, but most of them are due to funding problems and the conceptual limitations of the caste system. These movies usually focus on royal luxury and battlefield battles, showing the struggles and love-hate feelings within the royal power, and are dedicated to satisfying ordinary people. The audience's curiosity about the royal family, few directors pointed the camera at the street people outside the palace wall. For example, the well-known "Ashoka" (2001) and "Empire Double Bi" (2015), although they are dressed in historical warfare themes, the main plot is still the aristocracy talking about love. "Baahubali" has made a breakthrough on this point. During the filming period, it did not hesitate to hire a large number of group actors to play the common people, and he did not hesitate to give the group actors many reaction shots to show the people's reaction to Baahubali. Wang’s love and sympathy for the protagonist’s encounters are conveyed to the audience at the same time. Although the love story is the highlight in the film, it has retreated to a secondary position and has become a branch plot that assists the protagonist to grow up.
Fourth, despite SS Rajamouli's ambitions for change, "Bahubali King" still retains many elements that the Indian people like to see and hear. Such as pure and beautiful love scenes, gorgeous and exquisite song and dance sections, and highly imaginative battle scenes. The "King of Baahubali" series tells the history of two generations of Baahubali and his sons fighting for royal power, but the father and son are both played by Prabhas. Audiences who are familiar with Indian movies know that splitting the two roles by one person is also an unfailing tactic in Indian films. Many famous Indian male stars have excessive performance experience with two roles, such as "Indian Superman" (2006), "Natural Couple" ( 2008) and so on.
As for why "Baahubali" has become a dark horse at the box office in North America, in addition to the strong support of Indian compatriots living in North America, the curiosity of the exotic, especially the mysterious and remote Indian culture, and the aesthetics of handsome men and women with exotic flavors are all Attracting overseas audiences into the cinema. That's why Li Ang's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and Zhang Yimou's "Hero" both achieved good box office results in North America. In addition, "Baahubali" portrays an extraordinary heroic image with one enemy and a hundred, which also coincides with the heroism complex of North American audiences.
In short, a trend reflected in "Bahubali King" is that the tastes of Indian audiences and overseas audiences are quietly changing, and movie fans are becoming more tolerant of different cultures. The South Indian film industry is no longer satisfied with producing traditional love song and dance films for self-entertainment, but tries to reflect more general content. It can be said that the rise of Tollywood will allow global movie fans to see a richer variety of Indian films.
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