New Delhi: Looks like movies from the Southern film industry have a bigger fan base than Bollywood films these days. At least that's what the box office scenario suggests today. Four of the top five biggest hits of Indian cinema on the box office are from the South. With such popularity of South films, it seems that the Hindi films are finding it difficult to cater to their own traditional fanbase. From the recent release of films like 'Kantara' and Mani Ranam's epic 'Ponniyin Selvan: 1', the trend suggests an even stronger inclination towards the South.
A small-budget Kannada movie 'Kantara' has managed to earn Rs. 100 crores worldwide within 17 days of its release. On the other hand, 'Ponniyin Selvan: 1', Mani Ratnam's magnum opus which has been in the making for quite some time has collected Rs. 450 crores ( gross) globally. This also makes the film surpass the collections of Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra: Part 1'. This 'Ponniyin Selvan" 1' has managed to do so within three weeks of its release. In fact, many have called out that despite Mani Ratnam's attempts to steer clear from all crowd-pleasing elements, 'Ponniyin Selvan: 1' has become such a blockbuster.
According to film critic and trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan, 'PS:1' breached the Rs. 400 crores mark worldwide within 12 days of its release. On the other hand, 'Brahmastra' took over 25 days to collect Rs. 425 crores on a budget of over Rs. 400 crores. SInce 'Ponniyin Selvan' is still running successfully in theatres, it evidently will also be collecting more than the former film.
In Tamil Nadu alone, 'Ponniyin Selvan: 1' broke box office records by collecting Rs. 200 crores. The film seems to be showing no signs of slowing down and with the Diwali festival weekend around the corner, it looks like the film will even get better.
It is also noteworthy that Mani Ratnam shot his film in two-parts saving the producers a ton of money. And, from the collections of 'PS 1' so far, the producers might have earned all their investment back.
Besides 'PS: 1', Kamal Haasan's 'Vikram' also earned Rs. 440 crores at the box office globally. The other two major South Indian films of this year are 'RRR' and 'KGF: Chapter 2'.