Dialogues such as “Pushpa ante flower anukuntiva? Fire” from Allu Arjun’s Pushpa or “Salaam, Rocky Bhai” from Yash’s K.G.F. Chapters 1 and 2 have left an imprint in the minds of viewers. In the last few years, there has been a dynamic shift in the taste of moviegoers in the country, with South-based films gaining traction. “The South film industry benefits from more screens per capita of population, lower ticket prices and very high fandom, which all go to ensure high footfalls for good content,” Ashish Pherwani, partner- media and entertainment, EY, told BrandWagon Online.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s latest release Jawan scored Rs 907.54 in 13 days at the box office, while Pathaan continues to lead for the year, Rajnikanth’s Jailer and Prabhas’ Adipurush despite being surrounded by controversy are not far off at approximately Rs 600 crore and Rs 350 crore, respecitvely.
Rise of the Clan
South-based films have always had its own set of fans, especially those featuring actors such as Rajnikanth, it is only been in the recent past that films including Sivaji: The Boss, Baasha, and Lucifer, among others, have started to command the box office footfalls and revenue. According to a joint report by EY and FICCI, South Indian films accounted for 50% of the total box office collections in 2022. Not only did the South Indian films account for a big chunk of the total box office collections but they earned more than the pre-pandemic period.
According to industry estimates, the cost of producing a South-based film varies from as low as Rs 8-10 crore to as high as more than Rs 200 crore whereas sponsorship rates would be dependent on the genre of the movie, the cast and the time of release. “The cost of production of Jailer was approximately Rs 250- 275 crore. However, the production of other movies can be as low as Rs 10-12 crore,” Shankar B, CEO, Fourth Dimension Media Solutions, said.
Additionally, South Indian movie theatres continue to maintain a heavy footfall. According to a recent GroupM report, eight of the ten people are watching a movie at least once a month which is two times more than the all-India average. Furthermore, South Indians who are heavy moviegoers are watching 32 movies a year, approximately three times more than the all-India average. In a nutshell, South India watches approximately 22 films on average, annually. “South-based films are more content-driven as compared to Bollywood. I feel like Bollywood movies are now being made to suit actors rather than the audience. Songs have also played a big role in the rise of popularity of the South movies,” Shankar, added.
The report highlighted that Amazon Prime was the most used app across South India with aha! Gaining affinity from the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana markets while YouTube was big for the Kerala market. The popularity of this content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms rose during the pandemic, at the time of lockdown.
Hindi movies – a downhill path?
According to an Ormax Report, five out of the top 10 movies in the first half of 2023 were from the South Indian film industry whereas four were from Bollywood. Moreover, the language share of the gross domestic box office was dominated by South Indian movies with Telugu (20%), Tamil (17%) and Malayalam (5%) which amounts to 43% as compared to Hindi at 37%.
Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer broke all sorts of records by becoming the third Indian movie to gross upwards of Rs 50 crore in all the Southern states while becoming the first Tamil movie to do so, said a tweet by Manobala Vijaybalan. “South Indian cinema’s emphasis on local cultures, traditions, and languages resonates deeply with audiences and creates a solid emotional connection. This authenticity sets regional content apart by genuinely representing the culture it portrays. Hindi cinema has also recognised the appeal of films rooted in local flavours, and this approach has also proven successful in the Hindi space,” Kavitha Jaubin, vice president- content and strategy, aha, said.
With an abundance of movies for audiences to choose from, South-based films movies seem to be ahead of Bollywood movies. The highest number of films were released in Telugu (278), Kannada (233), followed by Tamil (288) and Malayalam (199). Only 194 films were released in Hindi, according to an EY-FICCI report. The report highlighted that Hindi cinema ceded 17% market share since 2019 while South Indian films command over 50% of box office revenues, and some South Indian films were released nationally. Bollywood films grossed approximately Rs 3500 crore in 2022 as compared to Rs 5200 crore the year before while South Indian movies grossed Rs 5300 crore as compared to Rs 4000 crore in the previous year.
There were 22 releases which grossed Rs 100 crore or more at the box office as compared to five each in 2020 and 2021. Of the eight Hindi movies which crossed the Rs 100 crore mark, the top two were dubbed versions of South-based films while 11 other language films were all from the South played in its original language.
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