How Baahubali Killed Assam’s ‘Local Kung Fu 2’ at the Box Office

How ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ killed a small film in Assam?

‘Baahubali 2’ took up cinema screens in Assam where ‘Local Kung Fu 2’ was being screened (Photo: The Quint)

Katappa Ne Baahubali Ko Kyun Mara ? (Why did Katappa Kill Baahubali?) This is one question that every movie-goer in India wants answered. But a more important question has been totally ignored in this process – How Baahubali 2 Killed Many Good Regional Movies.

In Assam, the victim was Local Kung Fu 2. This is a sequel to the 2013 super-hit Assamese martial arts comedy Local Kung Fu.

Poster of ‘Local Kung Fu 2’ (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Local Kung Fu)

Local Kung Fu 2 released on 26 April in 43 screens across Assam, and the producers knew they would lose lot of screens to Baahubali 2. But when Baahubali 2 released on 28 April, Local Kung Fu 2 was taken off from every single screen in Assam.

Since Local Kung Fu 2 was getting 70-80% occupancy, the makers somehow managed to get back four screens in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.

A cinema hall in Guwahati screening ‘Local Kung Fu 2’ and ‘Baahubali 2’ (Photo - The Quint)

Baahubali 2 has earned more than Rs 650 crore and it’s expected to hit Rs 1,000 crore. Local Kung Fu 2 was made at a budget of Rs 30 lakh; the producers were expecting good returns from the film but that seems unlikely now.

We definitely missed a chance to make some money that we could have definitely made if we had a 2nd or a 3rd week run. So far we have made about Rs 21 lakh.

Kenny Basumatary, Director/Actor, ‘Local Kung Fu 2’    

Production still of ‘Local Kung Fu 2’ (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Local Kung Fu)

The filmmakers of Assam are now demanding a protectionist policy from the state government. Just like TamiL Nadu and Maharastra, they want the Assam Government to implement similar laws, which force cinema halls to reserve screens for Assamese films.

Production still of ‘Local Kung Fu 2’ (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Local Kung Fu)

Big industries like France and Korea have mechanisms in place to protect their film industry from Hollywood. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have measures in place that protect their local films. Our 30-lakh Assamese films cannot compete with a 250-crore Baahubali. So the Assam Government will have to put some measures in place.

Kenny Basumatary, Director/Actor, ‘Local Kung Fu 2’

In 2013, when Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Besharam released, Local Kung Fu faced the same devastating competition. Is protectionism the only way to save good regional cinema from the Bollywood onslaught?

Video Input: Anjana Dutta

Video Editor: Hitesh Singh