DQ and the rise of the Southern star
Once dismissed as ‘local heroes’, actors from the South seem poised to displace Bollywood celebs
Ayear ago, recovering from an intense and prolonged bout of Covid at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai, I experienced first-hand the real-world connect that some movie stars can have with their fans. I know the intensive care unit of a hospital is hardly a place that one expects to make such discoveries, but it serves as a good reminder of the far-reaching appeal of the movies and the mercurial charm of some A-listers. Allowed no access to a cellphone, or any device for that matter, I was clueless about the kind, generous get-well-soon messages that were being posted on social media from friends, and from film folk I’d gotten to know professionally over the years. Occasionally the young man who’d frequent the ICU to visit his mum, a fellow patient across the aisle from me, would pop his head in to say that so-and-so had wished me a speedy recovery on Twitter, and that I really ought to respond.
But it wasn’t until a gaggle of the predominantly Malayali nurses who were posted on my floor stopped by one afternoon, squealing in excitement while enquiring how I knew Dulquer Salmaan, that it dawned upon me: ‘fandom’ knows no protocol. There’s no wrong time or place to gush about your favourite actor; it doesn’t matter if you’re a nurse or that I’m a patient with a tracheotomy pipe still lodged between the front of my neck and my windpipe. If you’re a fan, there are no rules.
Hero adjacent
If you’re reading this, Dulquer, I have a confession to make. I shamelessly exploited the reflected glory of knowing you. Enthralled them with stories of how funny you are (true), how you can talk about things other than just movies (true), and that you’re not only a fine actor but a great all-round guy (also true). Let’s just say I went from Patient in Bed No. 4 to Star Patient in a single afternoon. And I never again had to grumble about being woken up at 4 am for a sponge bath. There are benefits to knowing famous people. (I owe you one, DQ).
The star of beloved films like Bangalore Days, O Kadhal Kanmani, and Mahanati, Dulquer is currently at the cusp of pan-India stardom. He’s poised to join the ranks of Allu Arjun and Yash, who, with the unprecedented nation-wide success of Pushpa and K.G.F: Chapter 2, have shattered the widelyheld notion that Southern stars don’t cross over. I’m reminded of a crude joke famously cracked by a Bollywood superstar, referring to the strictly local popularity of Tamil and Telugu stars at the time. “In Hyderabad and Chennai they can’t step out without bodyguards, who have to keep fans at bay. Then they take a two-hour flight to Mumbai and suddenly they’re pushing their own luggage trolley at the airport.”
That joke didn’t age well. Today a fan sitting in Patna is showing up first-day-first show for K.G.F: Chapter 2, not unlike the fan in Bangalore who’s bought tickets to three shows back-to-back. You don’t hit a ₹190crore opening weekend if your film is only playing to a ‘local audience’.
DULQUER IS AT THE CUSP OF PAN-INDIA STARDOM, POISED TO JOIN ALLU ARJUN AND YASH, WHO HAVE SHATTERED THE NOTION THAT SOUTHERN STARS DON’T CROSS OVER
Dub step-step
After the monster success of the Hindidubbed version of Pushpa in non-Teluguspeaking states, the producers of Allu Arjun’s last hit, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, were reportedly thinking of dubbing the film in Hindi and re-releasing it theatrically across the country to cash in on the star’s popularity wave. But the story goes that Kartik Aaryan, who’s currently shooting that film’s Hindi remake, ensured that his producer compensated the original Telugu producer substantially in exchange for not dubbing the original film in Hindi, so his remake has a fair shot at working. Word on the street is that, going forward, Bollywood producers who’re buying remake rights to Tamil and Telugu films are insisting on a clause in the contract that forbids the original producer from dubbing his film in Hindi.
If the film trade is to be believed, Bollywood biggies are feeling the heat. Have NTR Jr and Ram Charan displaced Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan from their place in the audience’s consciousness? Do Salman and Shah Rukh have the fandom to rival Allu Arjun’s? Can Brahmastra fire on all cylinders like RRR and K.G.F: Chapter 2 did?
The coming months will hold the answers to these questions. But the nurses in that hospital were on to something.