South Movies Overtaking Bollywood in Global Popularity
In the year 2024, the Bollywood audience has turned towards south movies. Bollywood experienced a high despondency at the box office and global popularity in 2024 as it failed to meet the expectations of the Hindi audience, who turned to Telugu hits films like Pushpa 2, Kantara, RRR, and Kalki 2898 AD south movies. Now, Telugu cinema is experiencing an unparalleled worldwide rise, overtaking Bollywood in popularity and box office success.
The blockbuster South movie Pushpa 2 was released on December 5 and earned over Rs 700 crore in Hindi audience alone at the box office, its worldwide gross is more than Rs 1,700 crore according to the figures. The Bollywood industry, banked on the nostalgic re-releases such as Tumbbad, Veer Zaara, Laila Majnu, and many others to bring audiences to theatres. A horror comedy movie that, made ₹597 crore nett Stree 2 was also a big success but Stree 2 no other Hindi movie reached nearly ₹500 crore in 2024.
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Compared to the year 2023, it is in stark difference when Bollywood delivered four hits in Jawan and Pathan which crossed 1000 each globally as well as Gadar 2 and Animal. Compared to the last year, Bollywood had four films crossing rs. 400 crore at the box office but 2025 has not been great except for Stree 2 and Pushpa 2 and it is a South movie.
Why are South Movies Taking Over Bollywood?
An important factor for the success of South movies is that the film has unique stories, creative marketing techniques, regional diversity, cultural significance, as well as a dedication to storytelling innovation. Besides making films available across India in numerous languages, South movies cover a wide spectrum of genres and themes, from gritty crime thrillers to grand historical dramas that draw viewers from not only domestic and international markets.
Malayalam superstar Mohanlal said that it’s not easy to make an entertainer and bring out a big success. It requires many factors and a lot of patience. Pushpa and more South movies like that are paramount for the Bollywood industry.
