You Think Bollywood Is Big? Meet Telugu Cinema

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10 years ago, the term “Pan Indian” started becoming a common part of my movie-loving vocabulary. It all began with the 2015 release of director S.S. Rajamouli’s epic, Baahubali: The Beginning. Originally produced in Telugu, a language spoken in the south Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, this two-part historical fantasy quickly became a sensation, eventually earning the title of the second highest-grossing Indian movie ever, raking in $80 million at the domestic box office.

Prior to the release of “Baahubali: The Beginning”, it was generally believed within India and beyond that only the Hindi film industry (often referred to as Bollywood) could create a movie that would resonate with viewers across this culturally and linguistically diverse nation. No other film required the label “pan-Indian” before then.

Although Telugu is not the most commonly spoken language in India, with only 81 million speakers compared to Hindi’s 520 million, it was the success of a Telugu film that made the term “pan-Indian,” which refers to something widely recognized or accepted across India, a part of everyday conversation.

This product is tailored to appeal to viewers across nearly all demographics in India, a nation boasting 22 official languages, around 2,000 dialects, and over 1.4 billion inhabitants.

India is not only the leading global producer of feature films but churns out approximately 1,500 to 2,000 movies annually. The Indian cinema landscape consists of eight significant production hubs, with Hindi being just one of them. Films are also made in languages such as Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, and Punjabi. While the Hindi film industry releases around 300 movies yearly, the Telugu film industry contributes an average of 200 to 250 films annually.

With the debut of the movie Baahubali, there was both a plan and some fortunate timing at work to produce the initial pan-Indian film. This marked the first Telugu film to be screened on up to 4,000 screens worldwide simultaneously. To achieve this feat, the production company Arka Media Works collaborated with prominent regional distributors for a Hindi-dubbed version. This was significant because the film did not feature any well-known stars for Hindi viewers and its budget was rapidly approaching $28 million.

Reflecting on the situation, Shobu Yarlagadda of Arka Media Works admits that it’s challenging to express just how big the risk we took was. As we progressed in production, it became clear that our budget would be enormous, making it essential for the movie to appeal to audiences beyond those who speak Telugu to recoup our production costs. However, we were uncertain whether Hindi-speaking audiences would turn up at cinemas to watch a film featuring unfamiliar faces.

Beyond just marketing and strategic distribution partnerships, Team “Baahubali” strategized ahead by arranging for a Hindi dubbing a year prior to the film’s premiere. As Yarlagadda points out, this was not a last-minute consideration like how many other Telugu films were being dubbed at that time.

Two years after its initial release, the sequel to the movie “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” earned $25.16 million on its opening day, a record that stood unbroken for five years until Rajamouli’s subsequent film, the blockbuster hit “RRR,” surpassed it in 2022. Its influence extended far beyond mere box office earnings.

Due to the popularity of the Baahubali movies, power in film production has moved from studios based in Mumbai, known as the heartland of Bollywood, to those located in Hyderabad, where Telugu is the main language. As reported by media consulting firm Ormax, Hindi films sold 341 million tickets in 2019 but this number dropped significantly to 189 million by 2022. In contrast, Telugu films saw an increase from 182 million tickets sold in the same period to 233 million.

According to Mukesh Manjunath, a film critic and author from Telangana, approximately 20 million individuals watched last year’s Telugu movie “Pushpa 2: The Rule.” On the other hand, this year’s highest-grossing Hindi film, “Chhaava,” was viewed by around 25 to 30 million people. However, when you combine the number of viewers who watched “Pushpa 2” in both its Hindi and Telugu versions, you get a truly nationwide movie. In the end, “Chhaava” only managed a total of 28 million admissions, significantly less than the estimated 63 million viewers who watched “Pushpa 2: The Rule” across all its versions.

Over a decade ago, another pattern started to surface in Bollywood: its prosperity was leading to problems, and social class became significant. Vishek Chauhan is the CEO of Roopbani Cinemas, a cinema chain based in India’s eastern state of Bihar, where Bhojpuri is the predominant language. Bihar is one of India’s poorest states, with most residents living in rural areas. Chauhan notes that Bollywood films were increasingly catering to an urban audience, disregarding the daily lives of rural moviegoers who found urban Hindi movies too similar to Hollywood productions, which they found unappealing.

Manjunath observes that t Impossible, with its protagonist being a globetrotting spy. However, a Telugu movie that appeals nationwide remains grounded in Indian sentiments and folklore, eschewing imitation of Hollywood.

After the success of Baahubali, Telugu films were increasingly becoming the preferred cinema for many, particularly among rural populations who could now easily watch movies online. Prior to Baahubali, Hindi-speaking audiences were largely unfamiliar with Telugu movies; however, these were being widely viewed by millions across India through Goldmines Telefilms, a YouTube channel dedicated to streaming feature films. This popular channel was established in the mid-2000s by entrepreneur Manish Shah and has since grown to become one of the world’s top 10 YouTube channels, boasting over 100 million subscribers and generating around $47 million in annual revenue.

According to Shah, it was the viewers who had been accustomed to watching Telugu films in Hindi on their TVs or phones that formed the cinema-going audience when Baahubali was released. He stated, “The audience was eagerly waiting for a film that would entice them enough to visit cinemas. That film turned out to be Baahubali and they haven’t returned to watching at home since.

Manjunath remarks: “A decade back, Telugu cinema was often criticized for its raw portrayal or excessive action scenes that were considered implausible. Despite this, it has always offered escapism, yet it never strayed away from the feelings that resonate with the average person.

The growth of Telugu cinema could have happened during a slump in Hindi film production, yet Chauhan points out that contemporary Bollywood is undergoing a transformative phase.

He points out that the challenge we face now is that many Hindi film production companies are producing movies that a significant 90% of India’s population has little interest in. He envisions a time when directors from the Telugu or Tamil movie industries will create Hindi films featuring popular Hindi actors. In essence, this trend could lead to all Indian film industries eventually blending into one, thanks to the influence of Telugu cinema.

The article you’re reading was published in the latest edition of The Hollywood Reporter, which came out on May 7th. If you’d like to stay updated with their future publications, consider subscribing.

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2025-05-16 14:55