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SWOT for Prabhas: Identifying the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats for the Rebel Star
Decoding Prabhas. The analysis of his superstardom, his probable shortfalls, the opportunity that looms in the market and the threats that can pull him down. Pinkvilla discusses
Over the years, SWOT analysis has been conventionally used to identify and analyze the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of an organization in the business world. It is among the most accepted principals, alongside PESTLE analysis, used in making a holistic business decision by the stakeholders. As a method, SWOT can be applied in all mediums of work, and in a first, we at Pinkvilla now bring this methodology to application for the top male and female stars of Bollywood. We take this segment forward with Prabhas, and here’s decoding the factors that have worked in favour of, gone against as also, the opportunities waiting to be explored by bypassing the threats for the Rebel Star.
Strengths
The biggest Indian star
The sign of superstardom is when a producer is willing to splurge money in the production stage without worrying about the returns, as he has faith on the ability of the star to bring in the audience for a good film. History has it that a big star in right film can lead to mammoth recovery despite unimaginable budgets. A glimpse at films in the making, and one can say that the biggest ones are being made with Prabhas in lead. The producers see the potential in Prabhas to provide returns to them even if the film’s budget is upside of 400 crore, and this is a feat that very few can boast off. The faith of recovery comes from the fact that his stature gives the insurance of returns. In a nut shell, a film’s budget in 90 of 100 cases is always a reflection of stardom, as it’s the presence of big star that can carry 100s of crore on his shoulder. There are no doubts about the stardom in Andhra Pradesh and Nizam, however, post Bahubali, the actor has also proved to be a bankable name in the Hindi belts. There is a genuine amount of curiosity around his work and this makes him the rare actors, who can fill the auditorium in the South market as also the Northern belt. Given his “Pan-Indian” appeal in truest sense, no one in India can sell as many tickets as Prabhas does on the opening day (South + North). His presence assures bare minimum returns on day one, and the first day biz of Saaho just reinstates this fact.
Screen presence
Prabhas has a solid screen presence, and a towering on-screen personality that would make the audience say, “nothing can go wrong till he is alive, even if he’s the last man standing”. While he has a legacy of films before Bahubali too, the franchise showcased his potential to ace in the dramatic space. The thin line between drama and larger than life drama is often blurred by screen presence and anything that Prabhas does often becomes larger than life.
Weakness
Hindi dialogues
While Prabhas has a phenomenal dialogue delivery in Telugu, he needs to work on the dialogues in Hindi, as there were a lot of complains about his diction in Saaho. While one can discount it for being his maiden attempt to dub for himself in Hindi, going forward, he needs to up his game in bringing the much-needed depth to dialogues in Hindi. There’s nothing better than dubbing for himself, but, to get someone like Sharad Kelkar on board to mouth his dialogues too, isn’t a bad idea. Sharad’s voice has the depth that justifies the aura and screen presence of Prabhas. But yes, this is an aspect he needs to work on.
Opportunities
The pioneer of change
Prabhas is the pioneer of change in Indian cinema. If not for Bahubali franchise, the word “Pan-Indian” would have never gained momentum. While the SS Rajamouli epic has built the platform for Prabhas to explode, it now depends on Prabhas to make the most of this opportunity. He is the only one in the race with an established fan base in two of the biggest industries of India – Tollywood and Bollywood and if he manages his game well from here on, he has the potential to emerge the greatest star in the history of Indian cinema. Interestingly, what makes Prabhas unique is that he is competiting with the biggest from the two industries, but the biggest Bollywood stars doesn't have as big a market in AP/Nizam, whereas the big names in Tollywood have no market in Hindi belts. He is the only one. He needs to do films that do justice to his screen presence and work with directors who have the knack of making cinema that appeals to all section of audience. Sky is the limit for someone having a reach as high as Prabhas. His line up looks strong with Adipurush, Salaar, Nag Ashwin’s next and the big scale, Prashanth Neel directorial for Dil Raju, based on a concept that’s sure to excite the global audience with mythological touches. While Radhe Shyam too has an audience given the romantic genre with potentially hit music, the opening day in Hindi would be an interesting case study, as it is the first “Non-Action” Pan-Indian film.
Threat
Better planning
With great power comes great responsibility, and when one is a threat to entire eco-system to create his own path, there are millions waiting to pull down the person. Prabhas at the moment is a lone warrior in the race of Pan-Indian appeal, and hence, it’s essential for him to make the right moves and plan his films better. The biggest threat for him is to avoid picking up subjects like Saaho, which are high on style and zero on the content front. As mentioned above, right choices will make him the greatest star in history of Indian cinema, but things would fall down (at-least in the North) if he makes the wrong choices. Biggert the budget, bigger the risks and hence, it's essential to back scale with the content that demands the scale. There is a platform, there is an audience, there is anticipation, but it will only stay if he does the right films with better planning. There is curiosity among the cine-going audience in Bollywood, but that will transform in a loyal fanbase, if he churns out good content at regular interval. And isn't loyal fan following something that everyone wants? He also needs to ensure that the releases are lined up with proper gaps, on the right dates with the right amount of marketing in North. While there are no external threats, only thing that can pull Prabhas down are the choices made by Prabhas going forward.
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