Baahubali, KGF, Pushpa, RRR and Kantara changed the rules of Indian cinema. They turned Prabhas, Yash and Allu Arjun into household names across the Hindi market. These films even collected more than movies starring Bollywood’s biggest stars. That naturally led to a new debate: who has the biggest market in the Hindi belt, Prabhas, Allu Arjun or Yash?
But perhaps the bigger truth is that the Hindi market is still more loyal to films than stars. The success of these South films came with a very specific formula. They offered mass action, larger-than-life characters, strong emotions and spectacular worlds. The audience embraced the films first, and the stars became bigger because of them.
Look at what happened when the same stars moved away from that formula. Prabhas could not create the same impact with Radhe Shyam or The Raja Saab in Hindi. Even Salaar and Kalki 2898 AD, despite their scale and massive fan bases, did not deliver the kind of gigantic Hindi opening that their overall hype suggested. This shows that Prabhas’ pan-India popularity alone cannot guarantee a huge opening for every type of film.
Allu Arjun could get another massive opening with Raaka because Atlee is reportedly making a huge action spectacle with enormous scale and hype. But the real test will come later. Suppose Allu does another family entertainer with the flavor of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Will Hindi audiences give it the same opening as Pushpa 2? The same applies to Yash. If he goes back to the kind of simple romantic or family films he did in Kannada before KGF, would the Hindi belt turn up in huge numbers on day one? Probably not.
The Hindi audience may not have actually become loyal to South stars. It has become loyal to a certain kind of South Indian cinema.
Shah Rukh Khan is perhaps the clearest example of the difference. Even when he chooses a non-mass film, his established Hindi market can still deliver a strong opening because the audience has a deeper connection with him as a Hindi star. His market is built around the star, not just the genre.
South stars have not reached that stage yet. Their biggest Hindi successes are still heavily dependent on the film’s genre, scale, trailer, character and overall event value.
So the next challenge for Prabhas, Allu Arjun and Yash is not another massive action film. It is proving that Hindi audiences will come for them even when there is no giant world, no war, no gangster drama and no larger-than-life action. Until that happens, their pan-India market will remain more film-driven than star-driven.
