‘Movie goers are tired of SRK, Salman Khan, Akshay'

‘South movies have the perfect script, the perfect action and the perfect romance.’ ‘That’s why these films are running in theatres.’

Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah ignited a debate recently when he said people from non-Hindi speaking states must speak Hindi, rather than English.

Shah’s statement was seen as a taunt to the people of South India, where people communicate either in their regional language or in English.

According to the 2011 Census, 520 million Indians -- out of India’s population of 1.21 billion people -- speak Hindi.

In other words, only 43.6 percent of Indians speak Hindi.

Contrary to what Shah may be thinking about the popularity of Hindi in India, history was re-written on April 14.

Jersey, a mainstream Hindi film starring Shahid Kapoor, withdrew from the theatres to give way to the Kannada movie K.G.F.: Chapter 2, thus proving that the dominance of South Indian movies over the Hindi film industry is complete for the moment.

Not only that, K.G.F.: Chapter 2 earned Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) just 5 days after release, the fastest ever by an Indian film.

The success trend of South Indian movies began with the Baahubali both movies, both of which were roaring successes.

It was followed by K.G.F., Pushpa: The Rise,

“Jersey makers were shivering just seeing the opening day collections of K.G.F.: Chapter 2,” says trade analyst Amod Mehra.

The first day collections, according to trade pundit Taran Adarsh, were Rs 134.50 crore (Rs 1.35 billion), breaking all previous records.