The year 2022 truly belongs to the south Indian film industry, with two films raking in over Rs. 1,000 crores, and quite a few inching towards the Rs. 500 crores mark. It was undoubtedly a landmark year, with the south industry even overshadowing its Bollywood counterparts. Add to this the fact that these south films have and still are continuing to break records, and garnering accolades not just pan-India but globally.

The latest being RRR that has earned itself two nominations at the Golden Globes and made it to the Oscar nominations shortlist. KGF - Chapter 2, RRR, Vikram and Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1 (PS-I) were also the most watched movies at cinemas this year, with the highest number of tickets sold, according to an entertainment ticketing company’s report, with KGF - Chapter 2 selling most tickets on the weekend as compared to any other film.

This is a trend that’s been a long time coming. In 2021, south Indian cinema generated three times the box office revenues of Hindi films, with a total of Rs. 2,400 crores, according to the March

2022 EY-FICCI report. Many trace the origins to the post-Baahubali phenomena, when Prabhas became a nationwide sensation following the release of the film in 2017. This was followed by the post-OTT boom in consumption of content across the nation.

While it’s natural to pit south cinema’s success against Bollywood’s many dismal outings at the box office in 2022, KGF star Yash feels otherwise. “Don’t disrespect Bollywood for this one year where south films have performed better,” the superstar said recently, adding, “This is just a phase. Bollywood has taught us so much. It is time to forget the north-south divide and respect all film industries. Instead of fighting about which industry is great, one should make good films, have good infrastructure, build good theatres. That is when the world will truly appreciate and say, ‘India has arrived’.”

Several trade experts have labelled the rise of south cinema as ‘the post-Baahubali phenomenon’. S S Rajamouli – who directed the two Baahubali installments, that released in 2015 and 2017 – said in an interview that Hindi films had stopped catering to the mass audience, who started watching dubbed south films online. “Unknowingly, we were building a big fan base for action films for a long time. And when Baahubali landed, everything exploded.”

The rising popularity of south cinema has made Bollywood move beyond its comfort zone and blend in with regional languages. The biggest examples being Salman Khan’s Telugu debut with Chiranjeevi’s GodFather, and Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon’s Kannada debut with KGF - Chapter 2 in 2022. Will this be the end of the ‘woods’ and the beginning of the Indian film industry?

Both Bollywood and southern film industries can benefit from the cross-pollination of talents. People want to go to Hollywood, I want to go south. The thing is once you start working together, just imagine the numbers we will all have… If all of us get together, we can cross 3,000-4,000 crore.

There have been no language barriers for me since 1990 and I’ve always wanted to work in good films irrespective of language. It also used to be the norm for actors to settle across various film industries, even if they weren’t born there. I’m glad to see that cinema has now gone back to not just become pan-India but also global. There’s no need for there to be a divide.

I am personally not a big fan of words like Tollywood or Kollywood or Jollywood or Bollywood. This wood...that wood...no. I would love to call it all Indian cinema.