Is pan-India appeal for southern films waning?

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₹132 crore from its Hindi version, at last count. According to media consulting firm Ormax, Tamil films have maintained their share of overall box office, from 16% in 2022 to 17% in 2023.

Still, Telugu and Malayalam films have witnessed a drop of 3% and 2%, respectively compared with 2022. The dip has been more significant in the case of Kannada cinema, whose share dropped from 8% in 2022 to 2% in 2023.

“Southern studios and producers need to understand that they have to work consistently towards creating brands in the north. The audience here, that has a lot of options, cannot be taken for granted," said Bihar-based independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan said.

'So films can’t simply be released based on strong commercial treatment, enough awareness has to be created through marketing and distribution," he added While a few Tamil releases such as Vijay’s Leo and Rajinikanth’s Jailer did break out with decent numbers in the Hindi heartland, Chauhan said it is unlikely that the same would happen to more films without an aggressive push by the makers. The absence of multiplex releases in North India due to demands for an eight-week OTT window further complicates the situation.

However, trade experts emphasize that there is enough lacuna in the north when it comes to mass-market cinema and these southern films can yield excellent results with simple tactics such as the release of a teaser, trailer and songs in Hindi, fixing screen count in advance and social media marketing targeted towards small-town, single-screen audiences. Independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai pointed out that hits like RRR and KGF either belonged to popular franchises or were helmed by established directors such as SS Rajamouli who are popular among