South Indian entertainment industry witnessed 96% growth in 2022: Report

In recent years, the quality of filmmaking in India has become synonymous with regional films, that are making waves in the global film industry. Led by the likes of Academy Award-winning RRR, KGF, Kantara, and Pushpa: The Rise, the South industry has undergone a massive transformation, which has led the market to expand by a whopping 96% in 2022, a new report has revealed.

The South Indian film industry is flourishing after a slump brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report suggests the South film industry grew by 96% from $486M in 2021 to $955M in 2022, meanwhile, television and digital grew by 19% and 20%, respectively. Notably, the report estimates all-India film revenues of $1.8B in 2022, of which the southern region accounts for around 52%.

The report mentioned the biggest component in the growth of southern market revenue were all-time Tamil blockbuster hits like Ponniyin Selvan:1 and Vikram, which accounted for $359M. This was followed by the Telugu-language industry ($305M) led by the Academy Award-winning film RRR, and the Kannada-language industry ($191M) which featured KGF: Chapter 2 and Kantara. Lastly, the Malayalam-language industry with $99.4M led by Bheeshma Parvam.

The report titled South India: Setting Benchmarks for the Nation in Media & Entertainment was compiled by Team MCube Insights for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), southern region. It was released during the recently-concluded Dakshin Conference. To note, the summit gave a detailed overview of the region's key sectors, film, TV, streaming/digital, radio, and print spread across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam languages.

While the year 2022 turned out to be difficult for Bollywood, South films dominated the box office. SS Rajamouli's magnum opus RRR emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of 2022 with a stupendous collection of Rs. 1,200cr plus, reportedly. Meanwhile, the Kannada drama KGF: Chapter 2 earned Rs. 1,148cr worldwide. Ponniyin Selvan: 1 grossed over Rs. 500cr, and Kantara crossed Rs. 400cr worldwide.

As outlined in the report, the Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam language markets will grow by 15%, 5%, and 11%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Kannada language market is expected to shrink by 47% because the potential blockbuster films, Kantara and KGF: Chapter 2 will not be hitting theaters this year. Therefore, the report cites a 1% overall shrinkage for the film market in 2023.