Shah Rukh Khan goes South for Jawan. Is that the only way to save Bollywood?

At a time when South movies are annihilating Bollywood releases at the box office, the fact that Shah Rukh Khan has teamed up with Tamil director Atlee and Nayanthara, one of the leading actresses from South, for Jawan, indicates that he was fully aware of this impending tectonic shift well in advance.

Bollywood's Badshah Shah Rukh Khan was last seen on celluloid in Zero, released in 2018. It has been four years since we saw SRK on the big screens. Fans are now excited to see him sign back-to-back films, each from a different genre. One of them is Jawan, an action thriller, directed by Tamil director Atlee, co-starring Lady Superstar Nayanthara.

Now, SRK's Jawan comes at a time when South movies are annihilating Bollywood releases at the box office. Pushpa: The Rise, RRR and KGF Chapter 2 have together formed a wall that Bollywood just seems unable to breach. In fact, more and more Hindi films seem to be crashing against the wall and crushing under it. Would Jawan have the same fate? We think not, because clearly, Shah Rukh Khan was fully aware of this impending tectonic shift well in advance. After all, his collab with Atlee started four years ago, right?

Back in 2018, rumours were doing the rounds that Shah Rukh Khan was going to team up with Tamil director Atlee. It all became official when the two watched an IPL match in Chennai's Chepauk stadium. Post the match, SRK paid a visit to Atlee's office in Chennai.

After the success of the Baahubali series, Shah Rukh seems to have cracked the formula. He foresaw that pan-India films are the future and wanted to explore the opportunity. Who better than Atlee, who has delivered blockbuster films for Thalapathy Vijay, to tap into the market? SRK foresaw the future and has made it happen, and how. Though Jawan took a few years to materialise, the Zero actor realised the prospects of a pan-India film before anybody else did.

We have more proof: KGF: Chapter 1 was released in December 2018 and took the country by storm. But, it was only after the first part's success, did we see two big Bollywood stars step into Rocky Bhai's world. Thus, KGF: Chapter 2, saw the inclusion of Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon. And it paid off as KGF 2 grossed over Rs 1200 crore worldwide.

RRR is no exception. India witnessed SS Rajamouli's craft after the Baahubali series, and then, we had the likes of Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn wanting a piece of the Rajamouli pie.

Speaking of the Rajamouli effect, remember how a red carpet was rolled out for Prabhas to step into Bollywood after Baahubali's stupendous success. Something similar is happening to Vijay Deverakonda now with Liger.