News of Raghava Lawrence walking out of the Hindi remake of his Kanchana has stirred a hornet’s nest. Lawrence decided to exit from the project which was supposed to be his Hindi debut as director after the producers of the film unveiled the first look without his knowledge. Laxmmi Bomb has Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani and rumour mills have it that Madhavan too may be roped in.
In a note on his social media pages, Lawrence explains: “There is an old popular saying in Tamil which says ‘Don’t step into any house where there is no respect’. In this world, more than money and fame, self respect is the most important attribute to a person’s character. So I have decided to step out of the project Laxmmi Bomb.”
Akshay Kumar had earlier announced the release date of the film as June 5, 2020, and the work on it started in full swing. The buzz from Bollywood is that the producers of the film (Shabina Khan, Tusshar Kapoor and Cape Of Good Films) have decided to go for another Mumbai-based director. The producers are yet to come out with their official statement regarding the exit of Lawrence.
This issue has raked up an important question: How do Kollywood directors fare in Bollywood?
In the 1970s and 80s, when remaking south Indian hits into Hindi was in vogue, Mumbai-based producers preferred the directors who helmed the original. Many of them, like LV Prasad, Raghavendra Rao, CV Sridhar, Ravi Nagaiah, TR Ramanna and T Rama Rao, have dished out hits. In an interview to a film publication published many years back, Jeetendra, the top Hindi star of the 1970s, described south Indian directors as ‘total professionals’ and acknowledged that they gave him a bigger box-office reach. Back then, Jeetendra used to complete a film in two months, shooting extensively in Madras studios and south Indian locations.
The second rush of directors from south to Bollywood started in the late 1990s with Priyadarshan. He remade many of his Malayalam hits into Hindi and was at one point of time Akshay Kumar’s favourite director (they have worked on films like Hera Pheri, Garam Masala, Bhagam Bhag, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, De Dana Dan, Khatta Meetha). Priyan is the only director from the South who has directed a record 26 films in Hindi. After that, there was a fresh influx of Kollywood directors who have directed straight Hindi films like Mani Ratnam (Dil Se, Yuva, Guru, Raavan), Shankar (Nayak) and AR Murugadoss (Ghajini, Holiday and Akira).
A noted cameraman from South India, who has worked in many Hindi films, said on condition of anonymity, “When a south Indian director makes a Hindi film today, he has to tackle vast cultural differences. It is not an easy job and most of them do not understand Hindi, which makes the work environment difficult. When south Indian remakes were made in the 70s and 80s, the heroes and rest of the cast flew down to Madras and shot in studios with local technicians. The remake itself was scene-to-scene unlike today, where the basic thread of the story is taken and written to suit the milieu and sensibilities of north Indian audiences. Sometimes the characterisation itself is changed to be in tune with Hindi flavour. Also, the shoot happens in Mumbai or North Indian locations with Hindi-speaking crew. You can’t pass off Kodaikanal or Ooty as Kulu Manali anymore, as audiences are smarter than you think. And in recent times, no south Indian director has made a straight Hindi hit.”
The recent Raghava Lawrence statement also shows that directors down south have started asserting themselves, which, in a way, is good for the industry. Lawrence has a proven track record as a director, having given Kanchana 2 and now Kanchana 3. He has also started work on his next (Kanchana 4), which will be in 3D. It looks like his logic is that it is better to be a king in Kollywood than being an also-ran in Bollywood.
But, all this is not stopping directors from taking steps towards Bollywood. Noted director Pa Ranjith, the man behind Rajinikanth’s Kabali and Kaala, is now making an original Hindi film based on the tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
Meanwhile, popular Tamil director Vishnuvardhan is making a straight Hindi film, Shershaah, a biopic on Captain Vikram Batra, the hero of the Kargil war. Produced by leading producer Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions and written by Sandeep Srivatsava, the film has Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani in the lead, along with Vishnu’s favourite south Indian technicians – Nirav Shah (cinematographer), Sreekar Prasad (editor) and Yuvan Shankar Raja (music composer). There are also talks going on about Pushkar and Gayathri doing Vikram Vedha in Hindi, but that project is yet to take off. It looks like the future will see more south Indian directors with original content debuting in Bollywood.