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STARS LAP UP THE LOCAL FLAVOUR
Bollywood’s protagonists are turning towards the Hindi heartland in droves. Actors such as Varun Dhawan, Shah Rukh Khan and Sidharth Malhotra are leading from the front
Of late, Bollywood has struck an extremely strong bond with the Hindi heartland, and the audiences are lapping up stories immersed in India’s indigenous landscape, flavour and culture. Take, for example, the success of Badrinath Ki Dulhania (BKD; 2017) that had characters from Jhansi and Kota; or, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (TEPK), which had Akshay Kumar play a typical Mathura resident.
A STRONG BOND
Characters in films such as Pad Man, Jolly LLB 2, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Newton, Tubelight, Qarib Qarib Singlle, Half Girlfriend, Sultan and Dangal also hailed from the Hindi heartland. “It’s great. For years, we, as an industry, have leaned towards Western influences, but now, we are realising the power and lure of our original stories, ideas and people,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
The coming days will see several such examples: Sidharth Malhotra is set to play a Bihari guy in Shotgun Shaadi; Shah Rukh Khan plays a Meerut boy in Zero; Shahid Kapoor will apparently be seen as a Garhwali lawyer in Batti Gul Meter Chaalu; Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma play a middle-class couple from Madhya Pradesh in Sui Dhaaga; Hrithik Roshan will be seen as a Bihari mathematician in Super 30; and Arjun Kapoor plays a Haryanvi cop in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar.
IT’S MORE RELATABLE
That Bollywood films ‘going local’ is not a new trend is known, but trade analyst Amod Mehra says that it’s now happening frequently and in a more clinical manner. “You see actors going out of their way to become those characters and shoot at real locations. They want to bring in a touch of reality, and the audiences also appreciate that,” he says.
The big question is: What makes such characters so appealing? Director Aanand L Rai, who is helming Zero, says, “I don’t start out with an idea to set my film and characters in small towns. Audiences should watch my film and be like, ‘Arrey, we know such people in our real lives’. That’ll be a huge victory for me as a storyteller. Also, those are the worlds I know best, and I try to reach out to my audience through them.” Rai also helmed the Tanu Weds Manu films, which were based in Lucknow and Kanpur; and Raanjhanaa, which was set in Varanasi.
Adarsh concurs, saying, “Such films or characters give the film a pan-India appeal, which also reflects in the box office results.”