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Kantara, 2018 to HanuMan; 7 low-budget South Indian movies with outstanding box office collections
South Indian industries have earned a reputation of putting out excellent films, with relatively low budgets. Here are the top 7 South Indian low-budget films.
Over the last few years, the South-Indian film industry has been increasing its budgets incrementally. Every year there is a film that surpasses the budget of another film. While some films do make efficient use of these large budgets, most big-budget ventures still end up with low-quality outputs, due to various reasons. But that’s for another day.
Today, we are going to be taking a look at some South Indian films that used low budgets to produce top-standard-quality films, and in the process, also scored big at the box office. The most recent example is the Prasanth Varma directorial HanuMan, which has made audiences throng to the theatres. The film, which has been shot on a budget of 25-30 crores has already doubled its share collections and is still going strong at the box office.
With that being said, let us take a look at 7 such South-Indian films ranging from 2 crore budgets to collections upwards of almost 400 crores.
7 High-quality South-Indian films with low budgets and huge collections:
1. 2018: Everyone is a Hero (2023)
- Writer-Director: Jude Anthany Joseph
- Runtime: 2 hours 34 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 8.4/10
- Cast: Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali, Kunchako Boban, Aparna Balamurali, Vineeth Sreenivasan
- Genre: Thriller/Drama
- Where To Watch: Sony Liv
Based on the horrifying 2018 Kerala floods, 2018: Everyone is a Hero is a film that is a testament to the sheer grit and willpower of the people of Kerala, both within and without the film. Shot on a budget of close to 26 crores, 2018 went on to collect 177 crores in gross collections, making it the biggest Malayalam movie of all time. From creating a whole village set and a replica helicopter to minimize the budget, to coming up with an ingenious idea to replicate the floods, 2018 is a marvel of filmmaking and it has truly made the impossible, possible. 
2. Love Today(2022)
- Writer-Director: Pradeep Ranganathan
- Runtime: 2 hours 34 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 8/10
- Cast: Pradeep Ranganathan, Ivana, Raveena Ravi
- Genre: Romance/Comedy
- Where To Watch: Netflix
A hilarious new-age romantic comedy that was targeted at the youth, Love Today took the box office by absolute surprise. The film was shot on a budget of just 5-6 crores and went on to collect over 57 crores at the box office. Even though the film involved the usage of VFX at regular intervals, director Pradeep Ranganathan made no compromises on the quality of the film.
3. Kantara (2022)
- Writer-Director: Rishab Shetty
- Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 8.2/10
- Cast: Rishab Shetty, Sapthami Gowda, Kishore
- Genre: Action/Thriller
- Where To Watch: Prime/Netflix (Hindi)
Kantara is a movie that is mindblowing for many reasons, but perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the film lies outside its script, it is its budget of 16 crores. How was Rishab Shetty able to create such a rich atmosphere, with such a minimal budget? From the lighting of the film to its color grading and overall aesthetic, Kantara is proof that budgets don’t make films, passion and planning does. Rishab has reaped the benefits of his passion and hard work as Kantara has amassed a total collection of 398 crores, making it the second biggest Kannada movie of all time, only one behind KGF 2.
4. Karthikeya 2 (2022)
- Writer-Director: Chandoo Mondeti
- Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
- Cast: Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran, Anupam Kher
- Genre: Mystery/Action
- Where To Watch: ZEE5
An ambitious sequel to Karthikeya, Karthikeya 2 scored big with its ideas, translating into huge box office success. Similar to HanuMan’s Lord Hanuman influence, Karthikeya 2 was heavily inspired by Lord Krishna. This devotional connection is what made Karthikeya amass a total collection of close to 86.75 crores in India and a total of 100+ crores worldwide, while the budget spent on the film was only 15 crores.
5. 777 Charlie (2022)
- Writer-Director: Kiranraj K
- Runtime: 2 hours 44 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 8.8/10
- Cast: Rakshit Shetty, Sangeetha Sringeri, Raj B Shetty
- Genre: Adventure/Comedy
- Where To Watch: Jio Cinema
A heartwarming story of love, loss, and pain, 777 Charlie is one of the most memorable movies ever made in Indian cinema. If it was not already hard enough to make a dog act for the camera, the makers only had a minimal budget of 20 crores to complete the entire shoot. Despite all the hurdles, Rakshit and the team delivered an unforgettable product, without any compromise in the quality of the film. And, the result of that? A box-office shattering response from the audience. 777 Charlie ended its theatrical run with a collection of 71 crores, the 3rd highest-grossing Kannada movie at that time.
6. Kirik Party (2016)
- Writers: Rakshit Shetty and The Seven Odds
- Director: Rishab Shetty
- Runtime: 2 hours 39 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
- Cast: Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna, Samyuktha Hegde
- Genre: Comedy/Romance
- Where To Watch: Jio Cinema
A film that launched Rashmika Mandanna to great heights, Kirik Party was made on a budget of just 4 crores, and crossed 50 crores in collections, an amount that was unseen in Kannada cinema in 2016. A beautiful coming-of-age story, that marked the debut directorial venture of Rishab Shetty and also established Rakshit as an actor of serious caliber.
7. RangiTaranga (2015)
- Writer-Director: Anup Bhandari
- Runtime: 2 hours 29 minutes
- IMDb Rating: 8.2/10
- Cast: Nirup Bhandari, Radhika Narayan, Sai Kumar
- Genre: Mystery/Thriller
- Where To Watch: MX Player
RangiTaranga is the debut directorial of Anup Bhandari, which was made on a budget of just 1.5 crores and went on to collect 43 crores at the box office. The film has emerged as a cult classic in the Kannada Film industry and has emerged as a film of pride for the Kannada audiences. Despite the meek budget of 1.5 crores, the film offered styles of filmmaking that were completely new to the audiences and also blew people’s minds away with its intriguing twists.
And the list continues…
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