South steals the spotlight

Hits from Hindi film industry in post-Covid era have been fewer and far between

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

THREE YEARS AGO, a line from the Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa: The Rise went viral, forcing cinegoers to take note. Pushpa flower nahin, fire hain were among dialogues that scorched the box office, sparking off a trend: The rise of south films.

In the three years since the first installment of Pushpa (in December 2021), the craze for south movies has grown significantly. In 15 days of its release on December 5, Pushpa 2 crossed the ₹1,000-crore mark in box office collections in India, with around 60% coming from the Hindi version and the rest from south Indian languages including its language of origin Telugu.

If one takes a deeper dive at the trend over the last three years, then three south films have crossed the ₹1,000-crore mark within a fortnight. This includes KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR in 2022 and Kalki 2898 AD in 2024.

Though action entertainers and horror comedies from Bollywood such as Khan's Jawan and Pathaan, Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and 3, Ranbir Kapoor's Animal and Shraddha Kapoor's Stree 2 have lit the box office in the last two to three years, hits from the Hindi film industry in the post-pandemic era have been fewer and far between.