South Stars Have Better Results, But Not Enough

The list of South Indian stars with ₹100 crore-plus Hindi grossers clearly shows who currently dominates the pan-India market. On the whole, the South stars are doing exceptionally well at the box office with their outings. Unlike Bollywood stars who are struggling to get into the ₹100 crores gross range, Telugu and Tamil heroes are doing it easily. But then it’s not enough.

First, let’s have a look at what is happening. Prabhas sits comfortably at the top with six films crossing the ₹100 mark in Hindi alone, followed by Allu Arjun and Jr NTR with two each. Then come names like Rajinikanth, Ram Charan, Yash, Rishab Shetty and Dhanush with one film each. But hidden behind these numbers is another interesting discussion happening now in trade circles. Almost all the stars in this list have slowed down massively in the name of delivering pan-India movies.

Prabhas is doing huge films, including Fauzi, Kalki 2898 AD and Spirit, but each project takes years. Allu Arjun is fully occupied with gigantic-scale pan-India films like Raaka. Even the likes of Yash, Ram Charan and Rishab Shetty are also making audiences wait for two years to deliver a film.

However, Dhanush seems to be an exception. Despite having a ₹100 crore Hindi grosser, he is still functioning like an old-school actor who continuously works without long gaps. But then, not all of his films deliver such results, and they are not getting dubbed into Hindi too.

Our stars should notice the fact that stardom is not only about delivering one ₹1000 crore blockbuster every few years… it is also about remaining constantly alive in public memory.