Will South Indian cinema continue giving Bollywood a run for its money?

 

During a recent Indian Premier League match, West Indian bowler Obed McCoy celebrated taking a wicket by coolly swiping his chin with the back of his hand.

McCoy’s imitation of actor Allu Arjun’s gesture was a reminder of the phenomenal run of 'Pushpa: The Rise' at the box office since its release four months ago.

It was also a reminder of the fact that South Indian cinema has perfected the art of making pan-India movies, which appeal to both a larger domestic audience and foreign viewers. And, the results are showing where they matter the most, in terms of money earned.

And Salman Khan too acknowledged it. He said on Monday that it is the heroism in South films that is drawing audiences to theatres, which is lacking in Hindi movies today.

In 2019, Bollywood’s share in domestic box-office revenues was higher than that of South Indian films. The numbers stood at Rs 5,200 crore for Bollywood versus Rs 4,000 crore for South Indian films. Meanwhile, Hollywood’s share stood at Rs 1,500 crore.

Things, however, have changed. An EY-FICCI report has revealed that South Indian films dominated domestic box-office revenues for calendar year 2021 at 2,400 crore rupees. Bollywood was a distant second at 800 crore rupees and Hollywood third at 500 crore rupees.  

Till February this year, Telugu cinema was reportedly doing better business at the box-office than any regional language cinema.

According to Ormax Box Office Report 2020 and 2021, which had been shared exclusively with Business Standard back in February, Telugu cinema’s share in box-office revenues had risen to 29 per cent -- higher than Hindi’s 27 per cent and Tamil's 17 per cent share.  

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