In 2021, over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms saw films in the four south Indian languages, including their dubbed versions, gain big audiences and as much as 10% of overall viewing minutes.
West and north Indian states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) accounted for 75% of viewership for dubbed films, said platform executives.
Malayalam film Minnal Murali was one of the top ten non-English films on Netflix for the last week of December, with 5.9 million viewing hours while Jai Bhim, Sarpatta Parambarai and Soorarai Pottru are among Amazon Prime Video’s biggest hits. After its release in theatres, period drama RRR will be dubbed in Spanish, Portuguese and Korean for Netflix.
Netflix has also seen its Tamil anthology Navarasa feature in the Top 10 in 10 countries including India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka. In its first week on Netflix, more than 40% of the viewers for the film were from outside India.
In the last one year, films like Nayattu (Malayalam), Andhaghaaram (Tamil), Pitta Kathalu (Telugu), Paava Kadhaigal (Tamil), Cinema Bandi (Telugu) and Mandela (Tamil) have all featured in the Top 10 in India.
Regional films, especially in south Indian languages, are attracting viewership around the world. This is due to the fact that each language from southern India offers unique films which tend to highlight their traditions, culture, locations, and so on. South Indian diaspora is also present in large numbers across the world. Leading platforms are actively acquiring films from these languages. Southern films provide a sort of freshness and storylines different from Hindi that is now primarily making a lot of biopics and war films.
