'Baahubali', 'RRR' to 'KGF': Decoding success story of South Indian films

Back to back! Undoubtedly, this year belongs to the pan-India movies for sure! Almost six years after SS Rajamauli's 'Baahubali' roared at the box office, this year we saw how South movies pan India outings have taken the world by storm, whether it's their larger than life sets, action sequences, VFX and outstanding work by the cast, and all together they gave the audience a full paisa vasool entertainment. 

Starting from Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa', then SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' and now 'KGF' Chapter 2, all three of them worked wonders at the box office. Today, here we have curated the list of all the superhits south Indian movies that won millions of hearts and took the box office by storm. 

When SS Rajamoulis's 'Baahubali' first part was in making no one would have thought that this movie will make history like no other movie in Indian cinema.  

'Baahubali: The Beginning' was released in the year 2015 and within a week of its release the movie become the talk of the whole country and world. Everyone was just talking about the VFX work, action sequences and of course Prabhas and Katappa. 

Prabhas starrer was made on a whopping budget of ₹180 crores - the most expensive Indian film at its time of release.

The movie had a thunderous response from the audience and raked in around $650 crore at the worldwide box office. 

Almost two years after the first part, SS Rajamauli finally answered the most asked question, why Kattapa killed Bahubali? S.S. Rajamouli delivered the answer with a powerpack second part which not only broke the box office records of the first part but also become the first south Indian movie to reach the top spot as the highest-grossing Indian movie ever. 

The movie is the highest-grossing Indian movie with a total domestic gross of ₹1,429.83 crores. Meanwhile, talking about the global gross figures, Prabhas starrer stands at second position after Amir Khan's 'Dangal'. 

 

After the stupendous success of his 'Baahubali' franchise, SS Rajamauli made his comeback with another star-studded project 'RRR'. 

After facing several delays due to the covid-19 pandemic, the high-budget Telugu film ‘RRR’ was finally released in the theatres on March 25 and ever since then, the movie has become a worldwide phenomenon. 

Ram Charan and Jr NTR starrer drama opened with a great response from the audience and critics alike and has crossed $175.47 million worldwide and took the third spot in the highest-grossing Indian movie ever. 

'Pushpa: The Rise' dominated the post-pandemic box office like no other film in two years. The movie set against the backdrop of red sandalwood smuggling follows the story of a wager Pushpa Raj, played by Allu Arjun, his outstanding performance as a sharply minded wager, impressed the audience as no other star did. 

Although, when compared to other pan-India movies 'Baahubali', 'RRR', the movie takes a back seat when it comes to a box office numbers, still the movie emerged as a blockbuster and raked in Rs 348.75 Cr at the domestic box office. 

The highest-grossing film of the year-'KGF 2'.

Shattering all the box office records, the Yash starrer emerged as a winner. The movie raked in the moolah at the domestic box office.

Not only in India, but the movie also raked in great numbers at the international box office as well.

The movie has now become the fourth highest-grossing Indian movie. The action drama has so far collected over Rs 1,200–1,250 crore globally and has become the highest-grossing Kannada film and the second-highest-grossing film in India.

Not only in India but South Indian movies have made every Indian proud on the international level. TJ Gnanavel's critically lauded drama 'Jai Bhim' starring Suriya about caste discrimination, and custodial death. The movie revolves around a feisty advocate who's fighting for the people who can't defend themselves and their rights. 

'Jai Bhim' is the first Tamil film to feature on the Oscars' YouTube channel and also became the first Indian film to top the IMDb ratings.