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Five non-Hindi films that smashed records at the box office
SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali has kicked up a storm! For the first time, a non-Hindi film has captured the pan Indian imagination, and as a result the box office is on fire. Baahubali is going strong even in the fourth week of its release, a rare feat to achieve in today's scenario.
SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali has bulldozed its way to record books, turning box office numbers hitherto unimaginable for regional films. In a first-of-its-kind, a non-Hindi film has captured pan-Indian imagination, and set the box office on fire: In its fourth week already, Bahubali is showing no signs of slowing down. It has already registered a Rs 500 crore plus collection worldwide.
Trade analysts say that if the craze for the film sustains, it will soon cross the Rs 750 crore bar set by Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s PK. In an industry where your worth is decided entirely on the box office collections, here's a look at some other non-Hindi films that have defied popular perceptions and gave other mainstream cinema a run for their money.
Enthiran (Tamil, 2010)
In this 2010 Tamil science fiction drama, was in a double role: as a scientist and his creation, a robot who falls in love with the former's girlfriend. The film directed by ace Indian director S Shankar grossed Rs 283 crore worldwide.
I (Tamil, 2014)
If R Balki's Paa made us sit up and take notice of the prosthetics on Amitabh Bachchan, director S Shankar's I, starring and Amy Jackson, set the bar much higher. Playing a bodybuilder who turns into an obnoxious-looking creature (a Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame-meets-werewolf being), the story is about a man who must get back his life, his love and exact revenge against those who did him wrong. The film made Rs 239 crore worldwide.
Vishwaroopam (Tamil, 2013)
This Tamil spy thriller about a New York-based Kathak teacher in a troubled marriage with a secret of his own went on to garner Rs 220 crore worldwide. The film featured Tamil cinema bigwig Kamal Haasan alongwith Shekhar Kapoor, Pooja Kumar, Jaideep Ahlawat and Andrea Jeremiah.
Dasavathaaram (Tamil, 2008)
Another Tamil film starring Kamal Haasan and directed by KS Ravikumar, Dasavathaaram is the story of two men fighting for control over a deadly weapon and, on a parallel track, is the story for religious supremacy back in the 15th century (between followers of Shiva and Vishnu). The film was a blockbuster too fetching Rs 200 crore in global collections.
Attarintiki Daredi (Telugu, 2013)
Telugu film Attarintiki Daredi, starring power star Pawan Kalyan, is a family drama with a right mix of sentiment and comedy that laughed its way to the box office. The film which also stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Boman Irani went on to gross an approximate Rs 187 crore in worldwide collections.
