Hindi films that broke the language barrier and did well across India

Bollywood films have been known to do well in the Hindi-belt of the country for far too long. But there have been a few films that did manage to break the language barrier and managed to become superhits even in the non-Hindi speaking regions of South India and East India. Here’s taking a look at Hindi films that broke the language barrier.

Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore’s romantic musical took Chennai and other southern cities by storm. The film’s songs ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani’ and ‘Roop Tera Mastana’ became the love anthems of the entire country and pulled in even South India with its charms. ‘Aradhana’ was remade in Tamil as ‘Sivagamiyin Selvan’ with Sivaji Ganesan in a double role, but did not find much favour even with the audiences.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus remained stuck in a limbo as protests caused roadblocks in its release. But once it released, the film met with immense appreciation from all quarters. The buzz is that ‘Padmavaat’ in 3D in Hindi and Tamil has done extraordinary business in Tamil Nadu and has grossed around Rs 18 crore.

Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor’s iconic film 'Deewar' remains an all-time classic in Bollywood. The film managed to also cross regional borders and became a huge success down south. The film had several remakes. It was remade in Telugu as 'Magaadu', in Tamil as 'Thee', and in Malayalam as 'Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare'. Rajnikanth played the lead role in the Tamil remake.

When ‘Chennai Express’ became the highest grosser in Indian cinema, it became a runaway blockbuster netting an unbelievable Rs 8.55 crore in 18 days in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Experts claimed the reason for the film’s success in Chennai was the flavour of the content which was similar to mass Tamil films, along with the lungi dance song in the film, a huge tribute to superstar Rajinikanth. However, some industry sources claimed that the film did extraordinary business in Tamil Nadu mainly because of the aggressive promotions done by Shah Rukh Khan. He flew down to Chennai along with Deepika Padukone for the finale of ‘Meena Hunt’ organised by a leading silk sari shop which had custom-made the saris worn by Deepika in the film.

Ramesh Sippy’s cult classic ‘Sholay’ remained a rage across the nation for decades even after its release. This saga of friendship and revenge was lapped up by the southern audiences with the same gusto as their counterparts in the other parts of the country.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Guddi’ featured an effervescent Jaya Bhaduri and a dignified Dharmendra in the lead roles and the film found ready resonance with the audiences of the south. The song ‘Bol re papihara’ in the voice of debutante Vani Jairam immediately catapulted her to the status of a melody queen. ‘Guddi’ was also remade into Tamil as ‘Cinema Paithiyam’ with Jai Shankar in the lead, and a very young Kamal Haasan in a supporting role.