The success of the Baahubali franchise was a watershed moment in the Indian film industry, opening up a whole new market for South Indian films, all over the country. This trend continued post the pandemic, with the success of films like K.G.F: Chapter 2, RRR, Pushpa: The Rise, and the recent Kalki 2898 AD. Simultaneously, only a few titles coming out of the Hindi film industry have managed to make strong headway at the box office, with multiple large-scale projects headlined by prominent stars failing to garner audience appreciation.

To understand if this trend has a prominent effect on the perception of Bollywood among the Hindi film audience (or vice versa), we recently conducted an audience research, titled The Bollywood Image Report 2024. The objective of the report is to understand how Bollywood is currently being perceived among the Hindi film-going audience, on various image dimensions around which the popular narrative on social and traditional media has unfolded in recent years. We had earlier published findings of the section of this report that address the impact of nepotism (read here). A different section of the report focuses on the comparison of Bollywood to South Indian cinema, and the audience perceptions related to it.

Hindi theatre-going audience were asked their perceptions on a statement related to originality of ideas in Hindi films. in comparison to Hollywood and South Indian films. Their responses are captured in the chart below:

When asked about whether they felt that Hindi films lacked originality in comparison with South and Hollywood, 70% audience agreed with this statement, highlighting a core issue the Hindi film industry is currently facing - that of a dearth of original ideas that can capture the audience's imagination.

The recent success of Munjya is a topical example to cite, whereby the originality of concept outweighs the stardom on offer. But such Hindi films, that rely on original and imaginative ideas, have been rare finds in the last year or two. Audience are looking towards South Indian cinema for this need. The freshness of Kalki 2898 AD’s concept and premise is sufficient to create an urgency among Hindi film audience (read this case study on the film's Hindi language campaign). Kalki's example illustrates how uniqueness of concept holds a premium in the eyes of the Hindi film audience, more than ever before.

Hindi theatre-going audience were also asked to specifically indicate their preference between Bollywood films and South films. Their responses are captured as follows:

Only 11% of the Hindi film audience believe that Bollywood films are better than South films. Four times more picked South films as the superior option, where the rest felt both offer films of similar quality. This staggering data point summarises a core issue Hindi cinema faces today: a perception of being inferior to other major film industries in the country.

To understand, why South cinema is seen to be better than Bollywood films by a large section of the Hindi film audience, those who preferred South cinema over Hindi films (the 46% in the chart above) were asked to pick the main reasons for their preference. The findings are as follows:

Story emerges as the key differentiator for South cinema over Hindi, which is in line with concerns that Hindi cinema faces regarding original and imaginative stories. These perceptions pose a significant threat to the Hindi film business. Story selection must take priority over stardom, to solve this problem over the next few years.

If you want to read the full report, you can mail us at [email protected].