I hate tears, Pushpa; so do you!

Having been to one of politician T Subbarami Reddyrsquos phoney film awards in Hyderabad once I was firsthand aware of the excessive stardom heaped on Telugu superheroes with star after star added to their namesmdashPower Star Pawan Kalyan Mega Power Star Ram Charan Energetic Star Ram Natural Star Nani Lovely Rock Star AadiThis was around 2011 when Allu Arjun Stylish Star had come over to visit me in my office His Hyderabad colleague Rana Daggubati had then made Bollywood debut with Dum Maaro DumSussing out the scene in Bombay the diminutive looking Arjun had casually dropped in to meet presseditor types in the city to say hi Only that I didnrsquot know who Arjun was Neither did the people he walked past to reach me Couldrsquove Googled didnrsquot get timeUnsure if it was this that Arjun the hero before my work desk spent a good while fidgeting at my helpless ignorancemdashalmost gracelessly bragging about his celestial status back home Such stuff seldom impressesMildly frustrated still at one point he told me about how a male rival of his had halted traffic with crowds gathered outside Deccan Chroniclersquos office in Hyderabad once because the paper didnrsquot care much for that hero Before saying our byes first I hoped hersquod do no such thing with the newspaper office in Mahim we were atHow else to know an actorartiste unless yoursquove experienced their works no Enough water has flowed under the bridge since In the interim for instance the Telugu mythological SS Rajamoulirsquos Baahubali 2015 rsquo17 also starring Daggubati became Indiarsquos biggest blockbuster ever its Hindi version includedPrabhas the hero is nationally known hence As we speak the hugest cinema hoardings in Bombay belong to Rajmoulirsquos RRR with Ajay Devgn Alia Bhatt looking like underlings compared to its Telugu leads NTR Rama Rao Jr Ram Charan I only saw Arjun on the big screen in and as Pushpa 2021 a decade after we first met under crappy circumstances Because Everyone suggested Pushpa originally in Telugu was a huge sleeper commercial success Bombay northwardsHow am I sure Couldnrsquot source a ticket for any show of Pushpa at my local theatre on a Monday night Found one for Tuesday afternoon settling for a second row from the screen Itrsquos like audiences can smell a film to line up behind itThese were nonTelugu junta ROFL in the version dubbed in Hindi Which is globally preferred to subtitles Because fewer people like to read period And with subtitles you canrsquot look a second away from the screenmdashif you do you wonrsquot know who said what Which isnrsquot how most of us watch stuff especially at home You can on a personal screen and hence OTT platforms are changing audience preferencesmdashslowly though Half of Marvelrsquos Indian revenues come from local language dubsThis is how Spiderman became the postpandemic Indian blockbuster As did Pushpa Irsquom told Tom Holland neednrsquot show up on KBC to promote nor will Arjun on The Kapil Sharma Show matterSuch boxoffice results backtoback inevitably centre conversations on how the South Telugu and West America are breaking Bollywoodrsquos back ldquoThey completely left theatrical markets open Aisa walkover no incumbent wouldrsquove given a challengerrdquo as my friend Vishek Chauhan who runs a theatre in Bihar puts it Referring I suppose to how Bombayrsquos film studios surely barring Yashraj have turned into vendorsproducers for OTTs which is effectively TV isnrsquot itAlso Bollywoodrsquos a bit like the Congress in Indian politicsmdasheverybody feels they only have a stake in it incessantly criticising them for not living up to a centuryold promise potential We forget though does it really have to be the Congress How does it matter if people enjoy Hindi event pictures less and other cinemas Indian languages included moreequally Theatres benefit regardlessDiagnosis to the problem is simple the oldworld slightly sexist shirtless Salman Khanlike blind stardom in Bollywood meaning audiences trooping in simply to watch a Hindi male actor as macho heromdashthe screen as extension of that image appears to be on a decline Hollywood for that reason places its biggest bets on special effect franchises aloneYounger Bollywood stars are leads who mustcan act as characters Merit lies in movies alone Not very failsafe for a film industry yes Good for the audience Choices expandSalman after all only revived his career with a Hindi remake Wanted 2009 of a Telugu film Pokiri 2006 As did Shahid Kapoor with Kabir Singh 2019 which was Arjun Reddy 2017 in Telugu where the lead Vijay Deverakonda was equally phenomenalI stepped out of Pushparsquos screening to a massive poster of Shahid in the forthcoming Hindi rerun of Jersey 2019 which already had Nani Natural Star deliver an awardwinning performance Grow your own audience noInside the theatre with the madactioner Pushpa Telugu hero Arjun was killing it in Bambaiya Hindi his dubbed voice sounding suspiciously like Shahidrsquos Bombay was loving him through and throughWhich reminds me of how I said my final bye to Arjun when we metmdashI was getting a smoke outside he was finally being seen off by Teluguspeaking fans autographselfie seekers outside my office groundfloor He gently glanced at me ldquoNow you know what I meanrdquo No no of course my bad Stylish StarMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper