Surge of South: Films premiere to new audience

As south Indian cinema ventures into global platforms, small-budget Kannada films still encounter a range of obstacles in financing, distribution and release.

"Kattappa ne Baahubali ko kyun mara?” (Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?) 

Raja Babu, a 29-year-old from Jalandhar in Punjab, was among lakhs who were haunted by this question after watching the Hindi dubbed version of the Telugu movie Baahubali - The Beginning (Part 1).

This is testimony to how the 2015 movie, rooted in the south, captured the interest of the Hindi-speaking audience.

“After that, I watched the second part of Baahubali and other south Indian movies like KGF and RRR, dubbed in Hindi. The stories were different and good; trailers were interesting,” he says.

Directed by S S Rajamouli, Baahubali 1 became the first south Indian, and Indian movie to collect Rs 500 crore in ticket sales (gross) worldwide, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

Later, six other south Indian movies — Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Telugu, 2017), 2.0 (Tamil, 2019), KGF: Chapter 2 (Kannada, 2022), RRR (Telugu, 2022), Leo (Tamil, 2023) and Salaar (Telugu, 2023) joined the Rs 500-crore club. Baahubali 2, RRR and KGF 2 belong to the club of movies grossing Rs 1,000 crore worldwide, according to IMDb data.

It was the Covid pandemic that brought movies from south India to a new audience. With the emerging popularity of over-the-top (OTT) platforms, people from across India started watching movies in different languages. Fresh content and stories offered by these movies, the availability of dubbed content with subtitles and diverse genres made even smaller movies popular among this audience.

“Post-Covid, up to 60 per cent of the cinema revenue in India has been captured by southern industries,” says Ramesh Bala, a Chennai-based cinema trade analyst.

The idea that Indian cinema is Bollywood is gone. 

“In the last 20 years, Bollywood moved towards more romantic, soft genres, focusing on the NRI market. With this, they also lost the connection with the Hindi heartland. Movies like KGF, Pushpa and RRR connected well with the working class there and captured the north Indian market,” he explains.

The southern industry has a constant flow of movies running in theatres, with a movie featuring a popular hero being released every month. “Quantity-wise and box office-wise, we are doing great. Quality-wise, too, our movies are winning awards everywhere,” Bala says.

Telugu dominates the box office among southern film industries. The sheer number of theatres in the Telugu states — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — is an indicator of how an audience can contribute to the revenue generation of even ordinary movies.

According to data from Qube Cinema, there are 923 theatres (1,831 screens) in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Tamil Nadu has 745 theatres. Karnataka and Kerala have 368 and 289 theatres respectively.

“When the number of theatres is low, overall revenue is also low. A revenue of more than Rs 100 crore in Telugu states is possible in one day because of the number of screens. RRR earned this amount on the opening day. But in Karnataka, even a hit film like KGF 2 did just Rs 30 crore — the maximum possible revenue for a movie in the state,” explains Bala.

In Tamil Nadu, which has the second-largest industry in the south, theatre owners feel that low cinema ticket rates might have resulted in low profits. A cinema theatre owner from Chennai says movie tickets in Tamil Nadu cost the lowest — the maximum is Rs 150.

“In states like Kerala and Karnataka, it is quite high. The government should allow us to increase the ticket prices,” he adds.

However, box office collection does not translate directly into a net profit. Movies with hundreds of crores of budget, such as 2.0 and Kabzaa, did not make good profits despite a comparatively good box office collection. 

Today, producers of high-budget movies cannot even think of ‘huge profits’, says critic and Tamil film journalist Vetrivel K.

“The salary of the crew itself is quite high. Then comes the social media campaign, the promotion, the audio release and so on. Producers borrow a huge amount from lenders for interest. The profit margin also will be low,” he explains. He adds that these factors contribute to the limited profits earned by these movies.

For some low-budget movies that manage to crack an OTT deal, the profits could be “decent”. They can also make money on theatrical releases, audio and satellite rights. “Several low-budget movies do well in Tamil,” Vetrivel adds.  

In this context, critics feel that budgets can be reduced.

“The kind of content the Malayalam movie industry produces is outstanding with tight budgets. Producing convincing and quality content with a low budget is a formula for success, rather than investing Rs 40 crore and collecting Rs 100 crore,” Tollywood critic Prasen Bellamkonda tells DH. For instance, Kannada film Kantara made with a budget of Rs 16 crore went on to collect over Rs 400 crore in the box office.

Though most Malayalam movies are made with a tight budget, only about 8 per cent of films have profited in the last few years, says film critic C S Venkiteswaran. First-timers produce most films and investors show a lukewarm response to them. He quotes a report published a few years ago, which found that though 9 per cent of films produced in India are in Malayalam, they earn only 1 per cent of the total revenue.

To help low-budget and experimental films, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) is launching an OTT platform, CSpace, on a pay-per-view model.

“Good cinema needs a good audience. We need to target the global audience by showing award-winning Malayalam movies,” says Shaji N Karun, chairman of KSFDC. There are 50 movies lined up already, while the project awaits a formal launch. The KSFDC also offers subsidies of up to Rs 5 lakh.

What ails the Kannada industry?

Compared to many southern movie industries, the Kannada film industry receives little government support. In an effort to remedy this, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah announced a film city in Mysuru in the 2023 Budget, to be built through a public-private partnership model. However, details are yet to be made available.

Another issue according to N M Suresh, the president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), is the lack of an effective single-window system for shooting clearance. The single-window clearance was available only for foreign filmmakers until 2019. Now, even Indian producers can get clearances through this system. However, they are often forced to also get permission from local authorities as well.

Due to these factors and more, many Kannada movies do not see the light of the day. Out of 506 feature films censored in the financial year 2022-23, only 245 movies got theatrical releases. While 311 movies were censored between April 2023 and now, only 149 got theatrical releases, according to data from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and KFCC.

Movies do not see a theatrical run mostly because of the costs involved in releasing a film, notes Kannada filmmaker Mansore. He says it takes more money to release a film than to make one, due to the promotion and distribution costs involved. 

“One would require about Rs 40 to 60 lakh to release a film. Most of the time, they may not recover the investment, which is why many films go unreleased,” he adds. 

Certification, subsidies 

Delays in the certification process can also result in late releases. This affects subsidy qualification for low-budget movies. The recent arrest of the CBFC regional officer in Bengaluru has also raised questions about corruption in the film certification process. Industry sources say that many films that were supposed to be censored before the end of 2023 are yet to undergo the certification process.

All Kannada movies with a duration of more than 90 minutes are eligible for a Rs 10 lakh subsidy. There is a special subsidy of Rs 25 lakh provided to children’s films and films promoting state tourism. Films based on literature are eligible for a subsidy of Rs 15 lakh.

However, since 2019, filmmakers have not received these subsidies. Sources say that subsidy applications for 2019, 2020 and 2021 are now open and will be cleared in the next three to four months.

The previous state government increased the number of films eligible for subsidy to 200 from 185. The government now plans to revise guidelines under the cinema policy. Following this, films released in 2022 and 2023 can apply for subsidies.

Lack of publicity 

The digital boom has made space for aggregators of digital film distribution, and dubbing, satellite and streaming rights. Shachina Heggar, proprietor of Flat Curve Studio, one such aggregator, says that when compared to other southern film industries, the Kannada industry is not in the best position.

She does not see the situation improving for at least the next year. “One or two movies grossing over Rs 100 crore a year cannot be seen as a success for the entire industry,” she adds.

Lack of publicity remains a major problem for Kannada cinema. “Every month, 15 to 20 movies are released. Nobody knows which ones are good. Unlike other industries, big stars do not support low-budget movies in Kannada. Promotion needs money but producers do not keep a budget for it,” explains Shachina.

“The positioning and marketing is a problem. Very few get the right mix of marketing. We have to work together as an industry to market Kannada movies,” says Karthik Gowda, founder of KRG Studios. This also affects the OTT run of the movies.

OTT acquisition 

Shachina says OTT platforms are reluctant to acquire Kannada films. Apart from Amazon’s Prime Video, no other major platform hosts Kannada movies, even on a pay-per-view basis. 

According to Karthik, it is an injustice to the Kannada industry that many OTT platforms are reluctant to acquire them. “Out of 100 films picked from other languages, 85 are mediocre. It is a business, after all — you get good and bad films, that is the nature of the industry,” he says. 

It is important for such platforms to hire more local staff in their acquisition to spot good films, he adds.

Shachina says the problem lies with the quality of cinemas as well. Today, most OTTs have changed their business model as some movies are not working out financially for them. “Nothing is a charity. OTTs are here for business and would want returns.”

DH reached out to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar and Zee5 to understand the issue better, but they have yet to respond.

‘Do not celebrate mediocrity’

There is a huge gap between audience expectations and filmmaker vision. “We have an intelligent audience exposed to global content available in Kannada. Our content must match that quality,” says Shachina.

 “As long as mediocrity is celebrated, we will not grow beyond the average,” she adds. The recently released Darshan-starrer Kaatera is a fine example of the films that need to be made in Kannada. The film appealed to both fans and critics and is now being dubbed in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.

“The Kannada industry is polar, with most movies being either mass, star-oriented movies or niche, artsy type movies,” says Karthik. He sees the need for the right mix in the genre and messaging and the need for a middle ground.

Industry sources agree that cinema will win audiences with good content. “We have to develop good products at par with any other industry by putting effort into the story, script, direction and production levels,” says Chaluve Gowda, partner at Hombale Films.

‘Future is pan-Indian’

Some experts see the Kannada industry capturing other markets through pan-Indian films. Things are already moving in this direction. For example, Kannada film producer Rockline Venkatesh has been funding movies in various languages, the biggest hit being Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015). KRG Studios is a partner in the production of Tamil film Captain Miller and Hombale Films produced Salaar in Telugu.

“Going forward, it will be Indian movies rather than south or north Indian movies. Barriers are fading fast. At some point in time, in one way or the other, they will collaborate. It will be one Indian movie getting released in all languages,” says Chaluve Gowda. 

He adds that the future also lies in big cinema supporting small-budget cinema, with big banners working on a mix and match of movies of bigger and smaller budgets. “There is always a chance of small movies becoming big hits, as Kantara did,” he adds.

(With inputs from Pranati A S in Bengaluru, E T B Sivapriyan in Chennai, S N V Sudhir in Hyderabad and Arjun Raghunath in Thiruvananthapuram)

Box office

The box office collection data in India is not accurate. The numbers are only estimations as most online trackers take data from movie booking apps such as PayTM Movies and BookMyShow.

“Not all single-screen theatres are connected to booking apps which makes tracking box office collection difficult," explains Ramesh Bala a cinema trade analyst. He says producers and distributors release figures that may be underreported or overreported.

Verifying it requires checking the numbers with competitor distribution agencies or producers who monitor this.

Because of this even net revenue is an approximation and there is never an absolute figure of loss or profit for a movie available in the public domain.