Hollywood may be the biggest, but many countries produce quality films. Typically whenever one talks about the world of "foreign cinema," one name immediately earns a mention: Bollywood. However, even though it's impossible to deny Bollywood's financial success, the very mention of its name causes one to envision laughable action scenes and campy musical numbers. Unlike other Asian countries that produce movies like Korea, very few Western film fans give Bollywood a fair shake, and the over-reliance on musical numbers, irrespective of genre, is one of the main reasons.
But India is a massive country, and despite being the most famous, Bollywood isn't the only game in town. Thanks to the visually arresting action masterpiece RRR, Telegu cinema- otherwise known as Tollywood- is finally breaking into the West. And while RRR still proudly infuses musicals into its narrative, the film does such an expert job of it that the Oscars took notice. In the video linked above, the mastermind behind RRR, SS Rajamouli sits down with Vanity Fair to dissect the now Oscar-winning musical scene for Naatu Naatu.
