The most interesting trivia from South Indian cinema | #58
Also, fun facts from Lagaan that you didn't know!
Friends,
The film industries of South India are often bucketed together as they share some similarities. But this is unfair to each of them as they’re all unique in their own way, as these stills from Family Man may suggest. Many recent cinematic trends see their origins south of the Vindhyas, so this week we take a look at interesting stories from the 4 film industries down south.
Things we learnt this week:
The great Dr Rajkumar’s real name is Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj. At the time of his birth, he was named Muthuraj, after Muthathi Raya, which is a Hanuman temple in Muthathi, about 100km away from Bangalore. The temple may be submerged if the construction of a dam is given the go ahead. Most folks in Karnataka will definitely answer yes to the question “Raj, naam to suna hi hoga”
We cannot imagine anyone other than our close friend Rana Daggubati as Bhalladeva in Baahubali. But did you know the first choice of the producer Shobu Yarlagadda was Jason ‘Khal Drogo’ Mamoa. There must have been an Akhal of choices for the role but we are so glad Rana played it.
One of Rajnikanth’s most famous films is Padayappa, that was directed by KS Ravikumar. The most iconic scene is when Padayappa goes to meet Neelambari and is greeted by an empty room with no seating. He proceeds to use his shawl and unfurl a swing and then proceeds to sit on it. Cue whistles and hoots. That epic scene was inspired by the Ramayana where Hanuman figures out a chair for himself on his tail after being insulted at Ravana’s palace. That’s a tail in itself.
‘Harikrishnans’ is an unusual Malayalam film starring both superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty who are both named Harikrishnan. They are vying for the love of Juhi Chawla. The film had multiple endings - in one version Mohanlal gets Juhi, in another Mammootty gets Juhi. The third was planned for a Pan-India version, where Shahrukh Khan walks away with Juhi. Unfortunately this couldn’t be shot. Yes Boss, the makers had a lot of Darr with the ending of this movie.
From IWTK, with love
It’s been 20 years since the release of Lagaan. Our thread celebrating its awesomeness.
There are great stories behind the screen names of South Indian actors. Check this out.
Quiz Announcement:
If you liked the stories we covered in our newsletter this week, do check out the Bhasha Talkies Quizzes. Starting June 27, in association with Rana Daggubati and SouthBay. It’s the first of its kind regional language quizzes: 5 Cinema Quizzes in 5 languages across 5 weekends, with the aim to bring more people into quizzing with stories & trivia from regional cinema.
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❤️ IWTK