Pan-India films

A pan-Indian film is typically marketed and released in multiple languages across India, including Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and other regional languages. Such films aim to transcend linguistic, demographic, social, regional, ethnic and cultural barriers, seeking to resonate with a wide audience.

• Name — Pan-Indian film • Yearsactive — 2015–present • Country — India • Majorfigures — S. S. Rajamouli • Influenced — Cinema of India

Indian cinema is composed of various language film industries. Traditionally, most Indian films targeted local audiences by filming in regional languages. These movies leaned heavily into specific slang, dialects, and history to resonate with their native speakers. Films are often remade in multiple languages, examples being Anuraga Aralithu (1986), Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) and Drishyam (2013). Films are also dubbed into other languages and released with localised titles either on the same release date or at a later date. Films such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Enthiran, were dubbed in other Indian languages and were released along with their original versions. According to The Times of India, the first pan-Indian film is the 1959 Kannada movie Mahishasura Mardini. It was dubbed and released in seven other languages but since then no other film was released in more than five languages. Indian Cinema industries often remake each other's works, Between 2000 and 2019, one in every three successful films made in Hindi was either a remake or part of a series. And most of the star actors, have starred in the hit remakes of South Indian films. Since 2010s, dubbing and telecasting of South Indian films (primarily Telugu and Tamil) in Hindi became a regular practice by which films from Telugu cinema and Tamil cinema gained popularity in the Hindi speaking regions. Majority of these films were dubbed after few weeks or months of the original version release. Similarly, Hindi films were frequently dubbed in Telugu and Tamil languages, but didn't gain as much popularity in Telugu and Tamil speaking regions as Telugu/Tamil films received, except a few like Dangal (2016), M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016).

S. S. Rajamouli pioneered "Pan-Indian” cinema with his duology of epic action films, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), which became massive critical and commercial successes both nationally and internationally. Baahubali 2 became the highest grossing Indian film of all time. The success of these films, which were released in various languages worldwide, sparked a new approach to filmmaking. Such films aim to transcend linguistic, demographic, social, regional, ethnic, and cultural barriers, seeking to resonate with a wide audience. Srivatsan S of The Hindu noted that Telugu cinema excelled in marketing pan-Indian films, primarily using two strategies: promoting films outside their home territory and collaborating with regional stars for increased visibility. Jeremy Fuster of TheWrap identified ingredients of pan Indian cinema ashigh budgets, cast actors with national notoriety, and rooted in mythology, history or stories that are resonant with all Indians and high quality dubbing in all Indian languages. Kannada film KGF: Chapter 1 (2018) directed by Prashanth Neel also released in five languages, thereby becoming the first major Pan-Indian film from Kannada cinema. Following the success of the Telugu films Pushpa: The Rise (2021) and RRR (2022), Rahul Devulapalli of The Week identified "Content, marketing, [and] indulgent overseas audience" have led to the rise of pan-Indian films from Telugu cinema. Pan-Indian films also employ actors from different language industry to increase their visibility and bring a universal appeal. In an interview with Film Companion, filmmaker Karan Johar said: "Pan-India is a phenomenon we cannot diminish or dilute."