RRR - Repositioning, repositioning, repositioning.
If you are a Rajamouli and Telugu movie fan, RRR’s success would not have come as a surprise. It came, we saw, it conquered.
This blog is not a review of the movie. It is a comment on the way the movie has altered Indian film industry, viewed through the prism of positioning.
Positioning is the distinct place a product/service occupies in a consumer’s mind. It is a two way exercise- when you position your product/ service, you reposition competition. RRR is a story of repositioning various facet of Indian films.
Repositioning 1
I grew up in the Hyderabad of the 80s. The then leading English newspaper Deccan Chronicle had a few pages dedicated to listing of the movies. The sequence of movies reflected a colonial mindset. English first, Hindi next and then Telugu. English for the elite, Hindi for the evolved and Telugu for the plebeians.
In contrast, today Bookmyshow movie listings have been taken over by the South. Pushpa yesterday, RRR today, KGF and Beast tomorrow. From a purely regional audience, these movies are breaking records globally.
A giant leap of repositioning!
Repositioning 2
Telugu/ south movies are made with the sole purpose of entertainment. They are made for the large screen, they make you enter the world of make believe. They tell stories.
Contrast this with the current crop of Hindi movies - Attack, Bachchan Pandey even Gangubai Kathiawadi- they have forgotten their primary purpose.
As the southern spectacles wax and the Bollywood creativity wanes, audiences are viewing Hindi movies through the prism of massive spectacles (Bahubali, Pushpa, RRR, KGF, Robot 2.0 etc). By not delivering fresh content, they are failing miserably in comparison.
A few decades back, the southern movies were the butt of jokes, memes. Today, Hindi movies look hackneyed and bereft of sense. The repositioning is complete.
Repositioning 3
Being an avid cricket fan, I loved 83 (the film). But, excerpts through Kapil Dev’s interviews, Kapil Sharma shows and teasers/ trailers left no aha moment in the final movie. Most Hindi releases are no different. The plot, the big scenes are revealed bit by bit in trailers and promos. With no novelty (in the theme), no surprises, the smart audience wait for OTT release and theatres await the next South blockbuster.
RRR despite its massive promotion kept enough surprises in store to get audience to throng the theatres.
One more facet repositioned?
Repositioning 4.
The history of India’s freedom struggle is laced with stories of valour, sacrifice - but primarily of people from the north of the Vindhyas.
Through the characters of Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem (albeit in a fictional setting), Rajamouli has subtly indicated that freedom fighters were based in the south too.
When textbooks are written in the future, hope there will be more balance.
Epilogue
While this era celebrates Rajamouli and the Telugu Cinema, it also sheds a tear for the Hindi film industry.
An industry that set benchmarks, shaped our thinking, provoked us and entertained us is in the throes of pain.
It has become a victim of its laziness (a significant percentage of movies are still remakes of hit southern movies), internecine warfare (Khans versus Kumars, Hindu versus Muslim) and lack of vision and grandeur.
If the industry does not come together to save itself, we will be seeing Hindi films only on the OTT platforms. An industry that gives India its soft power would become a piece of history.
RRR could be the wake up call the Hindi film industry desperately needs.
