Regional cinema garnered major screen-shares during the two pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, riding off more releases in cinemas, even as major Hindi films chose to wait it out. According to industry watchers, this regional trend is likely to strengthen in 2022 as the Hindi audience is now hooked on to other language films. Bollywood, which accounted for over 60 per cent of the box-office collections, may have to pay not only regional but Hollywood films as part of its waiting strategy, which increased its collections in India during the pandemic.
the south steals the show
“In 2022, regional cinema will be bigger than Bollywood as Hindi audiences are exposed to more regional content – especially from the South – whose production has not stopped. Between October 2020 and March 2021, when theaters were open, Southern films were released, but there were no Hindi films,” says Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO, Ormax Media. He estimates that regional cinema may cross 50 per cent of the box office share in 2022, while Hollywood films will increase their share to around 20 per cent.
Kapoor predicts that within regional cinema, Southern productions will rule. “Not only at the box office but also on television, Southern channels are going strong, while viewers of Hindi film and general entertainment channels have been swept away to watch news and other stuff,” he says.
In January 2021, Indian cinema saw its first blockbuster of the year in Tamil film Guru ji, Which reportedly earned ₹230 crore worldwide despite screening at 50 per cent capacity. This was followed by a steady flow of South Indian films that kept the cash register ringing – films like Karthi’s sultan and bow Kärnan in Tamil; Open, caste ratnalu And lawyer saab in Telugu) and Malayalam superstar Mammootty priest And One.
hollywood movies
Bollywood gained some ground with sooryavanshi And 83 In late 2021. However, much publicized 83 Allu Arjun’s Telugu film was staged by Pushpa: Uday And Spider-Man: No Way Home, with reports of some theaters being replaced 83 with the latter two.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Breaking box office records and the kind of response we are seeing Pushpa: UdayWe haven’t seen for any Telugu film recently,” said Rajendra Singh Jyala, Chief Programming Officer, INOX Leisure Ltd. Naveen Chandra, CEO of Mumbai Movie Studios, a new regional film studio venture, is quoted by BookMyShow data as saying that spider man, pushpa And Guru ji The top three films booked on the platform in 2021 were sooryavanshi falling behind in fourth place.
Chandra says that while regional filmmakers showed agility, the reason Hollywood films do so well is that they are dubbed into many regional languages and in multiple trailers.
RRR release postponed
The new year will again see the roar of southern cinema with Baahubali director SS. Rajamouli’s RRR It is set to hit the theaters in January. But there are reports that the release of the film is being postponed due to the threat of Omicron. But the South’s arsenal is much stronger.
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