KGF Chapter 2 has opened to astounding box office numbers all over the world. The Kannada film has shattered records in India and abroad, raking in massive numbers by the bushels. Not just that, KGF 2 has emerged as the first legit pan-India film from the Kannada film industry, and the biggest pan-India film from the South film industries combined.
The Yash-starrer has become the highest-grossing film for the first weekend of release in multiple languages – Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada. It has collected an astounding first-weekend collection of 42+ crores in Tamil Nadu, despite Tamil star Vijay’s Beast playing simultaneously in theatres there. KGF Chapter 2 has also done excellent business in the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, as well as in Gujarat, Bengal, and in Northern states. Going by its smashing numbers, KGF 2 is a super success in the coveted ‘pan-India film’ category.
The spectacular pan-India success of South films such as RRR, Pushpa, and now KGF 2, should rightly be a major worrying factor for Bollywood – considered the leading film industry in India since long. But surprise! Bollywood isn’t rattled at all. On the contrary, the mighty Tamil film industry and its followers are the ones that are badly rattled up by the success of KGF2.
Most of the frustration of Tamil fans and trade trackers stems from a feeling of being left behind by the Telugu and Kannada film industries. Tamil Twitterati has posted thousands of tweets in the past week, reliving the glorious days of Tamil cinema, when Tamil films such as ‘Indian’, ‘Robot’, ‘Roja’ and others, became hits across India; and when Tamil stars such as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth had a fantastic fan following even in the rest of the country.
In recent times, no Tamil star has been able to find favour with North audiences. Current Tamil stars such as Ajith Kumar and Vijay generate hysteria only within Tamil Nadu. On the contrary, Kannada star Yash and Telugu star Allu Arjun have both managed to stamp their dominance on the hearts of the Hindi-speaking audiences as well as theatre-goers in other states. Their films KGF and KGF 2 for Yash, and Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo and Pushpa for Allu Arjun, have been hits all over the country.
Not just common film fans, even Tamil film and trade trackers, a powerful force in the Tamil film industry, have been venting on the topic on social media. From pondering on the last time that a Tamil film became a pan-India hit, to hoping that the upcoming multi-starrer Ponniyin Selvan: 1 will be the saviour of the Tamil film industry, they’re all ruing the fact that the Tamil film industry has lost the pan-India race.
Add to it the fact that Beast did not do as well as expected in Tamil Nadu’s neighbouring states, and the rout seems to be complete.
Have a look at the agony and the angst pouring out on social media about the Tamil film industry’s decline –