Karthik Subbaraj responds to criticism that Kollywood has not delivered a ₹1000 crore hit like KGF, Pushpa yet | Hindustan Times
Filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj recently held a masterclass with the Student Tribe, where he answered questions ranging from the state of affairs in the Tamil film industry to his working process. When a student raised the criticism that Kollywood has yet to have a ₹1000 crore hit, the director, who has worked with stars such as Rajinikanth and Suriya, responded with his take.
Karthik Subbaraj's last film before Dorothy was Retro with Suriya.Karthik Subbaraj on Kollywood not delivering a ₹1000 crore hitAt the masterclass, a student asked Karthik why Kollywood has been unable to produce a ₹1000 crore hit, despite being one of the biggest South Indian film industries and having established actors. The filmmaker first joked in response, “ ₹1000 crore film aa? (laughs) How will I be able to answer the question, why? How did the Telugu industry make ₹1000 crore? You answer me the how, I’ll tell the why.”
When the student stated that given Karthik was part of the industry, which is a business at the end of the day, he responded, “It happens….nobody can target a ₹1000 crore and make a film and then get a ₹1000 crore. That’s a phenomenon that happens for any film. Just to answer the question like that, if people from the Tamil industry are trying to make, okay, now I’m going to make a ₹1000 crore film, you’re never going to attain the ₹1000 crore film.”
He then cited the Kannada film KGF and the Telugu film Pushpa as examples, stating that the makers probably didn’t target the ₹1000 crore number when making them. “I don’t think they would’ve targeted to…they would’ve definitely targeted, it’s going to be a big hit, it’s going to collect big, and all that. But when it goes and reaches a ₹1000 crore, suddenly all the audience like that film, and across India, even beyond India people started liking it. So, it’s a phenomenon. It’s like a magic that happens here and there. You can’t plan for magic to happen. It just happens by itself,” said Karthik.
Kollywood boasts actors such as Rajinikanth, Suriya, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, and more, who guarantee massive footfalls at their film releases. Karthik himself has worked with Vijay Sethupathi, Rajinikanth, Dhanush, Vikram, and Suriya, but the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time, which is currently Nelson Dilipkumar and Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2, has collected ₹766 crore at the box office so far.
Shankar and Rajinikanth’s 2.0 is the second-highest-grossing Tamil film. It had reportedly grossed around ₹720 crore when it was released in 2018. Jailer, Leo and Coolie, the other three highest-grossing films in the top five, grossed between ₹518 crore and ₹604 crore. Meanwhile, the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time, Pushpa 2: The Rule, stands at ₹1871 crore, and the highest-grossing Kannada film, KGF 2, grossed ₹1215 crore.
Despite having a Master's degree in Journalism and over a decade of experience in print and digital media as a field reporter and sub-editor at organisations such as The Times of India and Reader's Digest, Neeshita Nyayapati remains a movie buff first and a Chief Content Producer second. She fell in love with movies in childhood and believes nothing matches the magic of watching a good film that moves you with a warm tub of popcorn in hand. Her love for writing about cinema follows that. Come Friday, you'll find her at her happy place, the movies, catching the latest rom-com or masala offering, for reviews or otherwise. As for the rest of the week, she's here reporting the juiciest news in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi or bringing out the best of celebs in interviews. While her niche is Telugu cinema, Neeshita likes to dabble in a little bit of everything to stay up to date. From film announcements to scandals and hard news angles, she has explored it all. A good book, a comforting cup of hot chocolate, puppy kisses and a stunning beach view are all she needs to unwind. Her passion for biking and travelling has taken her to various places across the country. She has found peace in everything from the frozen lakes of Gangtok to the coffee plantations of Coorg and the dense forests of Bandipur, to the monasteries of Darjeeling. But no matter where she goes, Neeshita loves coming across inspiring and moving stories.Read More
