Mumbai: Veteran actor Anupam Kher couldn't be more accurate in assessing Hindi films today.
He hit on the nail asking why Bollywood fails to make raging hits while South Indian movies make good nationally and internationally.
South Indian movies tell stories while Bollywood is still selling stars, Kher rightly observed in an interview recently.
Bollywood films have not yet stopped packaging a story around a movie star.
But South Indian movies always fared better on the inner strength great stories they tell.
Previously most of them were made on shoe-string budgets, but stories they narrate always strike chords.
Of late, South Indian movies have overcome their glitches regarding technology and narrative formats, taking them to a whole new level of entertainment.
It pays to be so entertaining and gripping at the same time, delivering best stuff to a tired audiences whose exposure to international movies are growing by day.
Many of these South Indian movies crossed language barriers across India and abroad, filling up theatres.
"I think over there, I'm not differentiating between the two but I think (their) cinema is relevant because they are not aping Hollywood. They are telling stories, over here we are selling stars." Kher was quoted as saying.
A host of new faces from south including Dulquer Salmaan, Nayanthara, Vijay Deverakonda, Sai Pallavi, Samantha Ruth Prabhu have robbed the hearts outside the bounds of languages.
Bollywood megahits are nowhere near in comparison to South hits; and the oomph the south Indian flicks pack in the theatres is just unimaginable for Bollywood today.
This year's Bollywood megahits Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Gangubai Kathiawadi managed just Rs 262 crore and Rs 209 crore each, according to IMDb. Even a major hit Kashmir Files grossed Rs 340 crore globally.
South's megahits including KGF 2 and RRR crossed the Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,240 crore mark worldwide respectively.
A movie from down south, Minnal Murali climbed up the Netflix's Top 10 list in over 30 countries, according to The Print.
Bollywood has to shun its reliance on muscle-flexing stars who will mouth unrealistic dialogues—instead focus more on believable stories and riveting narrative formats.