The South Swag

How south indian films and actors stormed the citadel of hindi cinema and enthralled the nation

- Suhani Singh With Ajay Sukumaran

KGF: Chapter 2 [April 2022]

Kannada actor YASH and writer-director PRASHANT NEEL etched their names in the pantheon of Indian cinema with the second-highest grossing film of all time. And they aren't even done with the franchise

Nationwide ₹992 crore

Hindi dubbed ₹427 crore

Over the past seven months, two smugglers from South India have caught the imagination of audiences across the country. Their illegal enterprise is different-red sandalwood for Pushpa, gold for Rocky-but the pluck is common: mama's boys who lapse into effortless swag when taking on the police, politicians or criminals and their minions. From Pushpa strutting around with a tic in the shoulder and a hand stroking his beard to Rocky donning dapper suits and savouring his cigarette and drink, the films have made household names out of its two leading men: Telugu cinema's 'Icon Star' Allu Arjun and Kannada cinema's 'Rocking Star' Yash. The more badass their heroes, the better their reception in cinemas. Pushpa: The Rise was the highest-grossing film of 2021, its dubbed version in Hindi earning Rs 108 crore out of the total of Rs 323 crore across the country. Then, in 2022, KGF: Chapter 2 became the second-biggest film of Indian cinema, grossing a mammoth Rs 992 crore nationwide, nearly half of it-Rs 427from its Hindi version. The southern tsunami at the box office did not stop with Pushpa and KGF, S.S. Rajamouli's RRR-Rise Roar Revolt was an equal blockbuster, the terpsichorean skills and gravity-defying stunts of its two freedom-fighter heroes against the British colonial masters delighting audiences in India and abroad alike.