Director SS Rajamouli started the pan-Indian trend with Baahubali, but before that, every director’s dream was to make it big in Bollywood. Directors like Shankar and Mani Ratnam already made a name for themselves in Hindi films, by remaking their South films or making bilingual films. However, this was not the case with Tollywood directors, who usually restricted themselves to doing Telugu films only.
The only director that made it huge in Bollywood, from Telugu, remains to be Ram Gopal Varma. Several directors from Telugu have tried their hand at Bollywood films, but no one created an impact. However, there is one director that made a lasting impact in Bollywood and directed Amitabh Bachchan in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap. Despite scoring a massive hit with Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, Puri Jagannath never went back to Bollywood, always focusing on Telugu films.
After a long time, Puri is now back in Bollywood, with Vijay Deverakonda’s Liger, which is being made on a pan-Indian scale. Sources say that Puri is planning to make more pan-Indian or Bollywood films after Liger, and is concentrating on the script work for his upcoming films. All in all, Puri achieved the impossible a long time ago, when others were still dreaming of it.