Buzz: North Audience Tired Of South Devotional Movies

Despite being promoted very aggressively, with some of their interviews going viral for obvious reasons, both Nandamuri Balakrishna and director Boyapati Sreenu are in for a strong setback with Akhanda 2 not even getting a basic response in Northern box office circuits. Is this an indicator that times have changed?

Back in the days, films like Pushpa and KGF turned out to be big after a mammoth support from the North audience, who have rolled out a red carpet for these movies.

Later, when South filmmakers started adding devotional elements to these action films, the likes of Kantara and HanuMan gained significant popularity in Mumbai, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and other parts of India. Situations in recent times, however, are not the same.

Recently, Kantara 2 failed to do as big as the original when it comes to the box office performance in the North. Earlier, the same was experienced by Telugu film Mirai too, whose larger-than-life devotional and fantasy elements haven’t worked well there, except for the Mumbai circuit.

Now, Akhanda 2 got outrightly rejected, bringing us to the point that the North Indian audience may be getting tired of South films that are heavily packed with devotional and action content. One could, however, say that the fatigue isn’t about devotional content, but how it is presented. Because the same North embraced a poorly animated movie like Mahatar Narasimha in recent times.

Fresh storytelling and strong emotional connection always work, whether for devotional content or commercial content. The likes of Animal, Saiyaara, and Dhurandhar proved the same. So if the South churns out engaging narratives, success will always come in the Northern circuits.