'Animal, Stree 2, Gadar 2 earned ₹500-600 crore in India': Dinesh Vijan on Bollywood vs South debate, says no 'takeover' by southern cinema

Bollywood has faced stiff competition from the south Indian film industry in the past few years. So much so that it led to a debate among cinephiles and industry watchers on which film industry is better -- Bollywood or the south Indian film industry.

Amid the raging Bollywood vs South debate, Stree 2 producer Dinesh Vijan said in a recent interview that the southern cinema has not taken over yet. To substantiate his point further, he cited some Bollywood hits in recent times. 

"Since the pandemic, the Hindi film industry has seen remarkable successes, with films such as Animal, Gadar 2, Pathaan, Jawaan, and Stree 2 achieving box office collections of ₹500-600 crore in India. This clearly shows that the Hindi film industry is performing as well as its southern counterpart," the Maddock Films founder told Bollywood Hungama. 

Here's how these films fared at the India box office: 

Movie name	Release date	India box office (in ₹ crore)	Budget (in ₹ crore)	Verdict
Jawan	2023	640.25	300	All time blockbuster
Stree 2	2024	597.99	100	All time blockbuster
Animal	2023	553.87	200	All time blockbuster
Pathaan	2023	657.5	250	All time blockbuster
Gadar 2	2023	620.5	75	All time blockbuster

Source: Sacnilk

So should Bollywood and south Indian film industries even be seen as separate entities? Vijan went onto say that one should not view southern and Hindi film industries as separate entities and should embrace them as part of one Indian film industry. 

He also said that the key is to produce content that resonates with the Indian audiences. Furthermore, Vijan said: "Both southern and Hindi industries produce hits, but there are also films from both that fail to connect with audiences."

A recent example of a film auguring extremely well with the audiences is Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer Pushpa 2: The Rule.

Pushpa 2 worked with the audiences because of Allu Arjun's portrayal of sandalwood mafia Pushpa Raj and the scale at which the film was mounted. As of its 27th day at the ticket counters, Pushpa 2 made a total of ₹1.175.45 crore at the India box office. 

Another such example of language not being a barrier to a movie's acceptance is Dulquer Salmaan-led Lucky Baskhar, which received positive reviews from critics and moviegoers alike. 

Lucky Baskhar grossed ₹84.12 crore at the India box office and raked in ₹111.22 crore at the worldwide box office. Not just this, the Dulquer Salmaan-led film became the second most-viewed South Indian film on Netflix and was trending on the platform for 4 weeks.

An example of a southern film that could not work was the Suriya-starrer Kanguva. Audiences had multiple bones to pick with this one including weak screenplay, extremely loud background music and shortened role for Disha Patani.

The film could not work at the India box office also due to lackluster advance booking.

In Bollywood, one such film is Varun Dhawan's Baby John, the official remake of the 2016 Thalapathy Vijay-starrer Theri. Within its first week at the ticket counters, Baby John has been able to rake in only ₹32.65 crore at the India box office.