Top 50 Highest Grossing South Indian Movies of All Time

The South Indian film industry has produced some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed movies in Indian cinema. South Indian Cinema is used to refer collectively to the four distinct film industries of Telugu (Tollywood), Tamil (Kollywood), Malayalam (Mollywood), and Kannada (Sandalwood) as a single entity. In our article “Top 50 Highest Grossing South Indian Movies of All Time,” we will take you on a journey through the blockbuster hits that have not only dominated the box office but also captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. From high-octane action films to heartwarming dramas, South Indian cinema has a diverse range of offerings that have resonated with global audiences. Join us as we explore the record-breaking success of these movies and the impact they have had on the Indian film industry.

Our comprehensive list will showcase the unprecedented financial success of these top-grossing South Indian movies, providing insights into their production, distribution, and the factors that contributed to their phenomenal box office performance. Whether you’re a fan of South Indian cinema or simply interested in the global impact of Indian movies, this article will offer a captivating overview of the highest-earning films that have solidified the South Indian film industry’s position on the world stage. Stay tuned as we unveil the cinematic masterpieces that have redefined the boundaries of commercial success in Indian cinema and continue to inspire audiences across the globe.

List of Highest Grossing South Indian Movies of All Time:

Rank	Title	Year	Language	Budget	Worldwide Collection	Director	Star Cast
1	Baahubali 2: The Conclusion	2017	Telugu, Tamil	₹250 crore	₹1,810.60 crore ($280.7 million)	S. S. Rajamouli	Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishna, Sathyaraj, Nassar, Subbaraju
2	RRR	2022	Telugu	₹550 crore	₹1,387.26 crore (US$180 million)	S. S. Rajamouli	N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Olivia Morris
3	K.G.F: Chapter 2	2022	Kannada	₹100 crore	₹1,200–1,250 crore	Prashanth Neel	Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty, Prakash Raj, Archana Jois, Achyuth Kumar, Vasishta N. Simha, Rao Ramesh
4	Kalki 2898 AD *	2024	Telugu	₹600 crore	₹1,000 crore	Nag Ashwin	Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani
5	Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire	2023	Telugu	₹270 crore	₹715 crore (US$90 million)	Prashanth Neel	Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Shruti Haasan, Easwari Rao, Jagapathi Babu, Tinnu Anand
6	2.0	2018	Tamil	₹400-600 crore	₹699.89 crore	S. Shankar	Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson
7	Jailer	2023	Tamil	₹200 crore	₹607–650 crore	Nelson Dilipkumar	Rajinikanth, Vinayakan, Ramya Krishnan, Vasanth Ravi, Yogi Babu, Mirnaa Menon, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sunil
8	Leo	2023	Tamil	₹250–350 crore	₹595–620 crore	Lokesh Kanagaraj	Vijay, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Trisha
9	Baahubali: The Beginning	2015	Telugu, Tamil	₹180 crore	₹650 crore	S. S. Rajamouli	Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishna, Sathyaraj, Nassar
10	Ponniyin Selvan: I	2022	Tamil	₹500 crore (Split into 2 parts)	₹500 crore	Mani Ratnam	Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthik Sivakumar (Karthi), Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala
11	Vikram	2022	Tamil	₹120 crore	₹458.93–470.6 crore	Lokesh Kanagaraj	Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil
12	Saaho	2019	Telugu, Hindi	₹325 crore	₹419–439 crore	Sujeeth	Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Chunky Pandey, Jackie Shroff, Arun Vijay, Neil Nitin Mukesh
13	Kantara	2022	Kannada	₹15 – 20 crore	₹393.3–450 crore	Rishab Shetty	Rishab Shetty, Sapthami Gowda, Kishore, Achyuth Kumar
14	Pushpa: The Rise	2021	Telugu	₹200-250 crore	₹365–373 crore	Sukumar	Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna, Jagadeesh Prathap, Bandari, Sunil, Dhananjaya, Ajay Ghosh
15	Adipurush	2023	Hindi, Telugu	₹500–700 crore	₹354 crore	Om Raut	Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage
16.1	Ponniyin Selvan: II	2023	Tamil	₹500 crore (Split into 2 parts)	₹350 crore	Mani Ratnam	Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala
16.2	Hanu-Man	2024	Telugu	₹40 crore	₹350 crore	Prasanth Varma	Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Samuthirakani, Vinay Rai, Vennela Kishore
17	Enthiran	2010	Tamil	₹132—150 crore	₹320 crore	S. Shankar	Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Danny Denzongpa
18	Kabali	2016	Tamil	₹100 crore	₹305 crore	Pa. Ranjith	Rajinikanth, Radhika Apte, Winston Chao, Dhansika
19	Varisu	2023	Tamil	₹200–280 crore	₹290–310 crore	Vamshi Paidipally	Vijay, R. Sarathkumar, Srikanth, Shaam, Rashmika Mandanna
20	Bigil	2019	Tamil	₹180 crore	₹285–305 crore	Atlee	Vijay, Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Kathir Vivek
21	Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo	2020	Telugu	₹100 crore	₹262–280 crore	Trivikram Srinivas	Allu Arjun, Pooja Hegde, Tabu, Jayaram, Sushanth, Nivetha Pethuraj, Murali Sharma
22	Sarileru Neekevvaru	2020	Telugu	₹75 crore	₹260 crore (US$38 million)	Anil Ravipudi	Mahesh Babu, Rashmika Mandanna, Vijayashanti, Prakash Raj, Rajendra Prasad
23	KGF: Chapter 1	2018	Kannada	₹80 crore	₹250 crore	Prashanth Neel	Yash, Srinidhi Shetty, Vasishta N. Simha, Ramachandra Raju, Archana Jois, Anant Nag
24	Sarkar	2018	Tamil	₹110 crore	₹243.90–260 crore	A. R. Murugadoss	Vijay, Keerthy Suresh, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Radha Ravi
25	Manjummel Boys	2024	Malayalam	₹20 crore	₹242.3 crore	Chidambaram	Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Balu Varghese, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Lal Jr.
26	Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy	2019	Telugu	₹200–300 crore	₹240.6 crore ($34.2 million)	Surender Reddy	Chiranjeevi, Nayanthara, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sudeep, Vijay Sethupathi, Jagapathi Babu
27	I	2015	Tamil	₹100 crore	₹227–240 crore	S. Shankar	Vikram, Amy Jackson, Suresh Gopi
28	Waltair Veerayya	2023	Telugu	₹140 crore	₹236.15 crore	Bobby Kolli	Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan, Catherine Tresa, Bobby Simha, Prakash Raj
29	Master	2021	Tamil	₹135 crore	₹220–300 crore	Lokesh Kanagaraj	Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi
30	Vishwaroopam	2013	Tamil	₹95 crore	₹220 crore (US$37.54 million)	Kamal Haasan	Kamal Haasan, Shekhar Kapur, Rahul Bose, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah, Jaideep Ahlawat
31	Petta	2019	Tamil	₹160 crore	₹219–240 crore	Karthik Subbaraj	Rajinikanth, Vijay Sethupathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, M. Sasikumar
32	Beast	2022	Tamil	₹130–150 crore	₹217–300 crore	Nelson	Vijay, Pooja Hegde, Selvaraghavan
33	Rangasthalam	2018	Telugu	₹60 crore	₹216 crore (US$27 million)	Sukumar	Ram Charan, Samantha, Aadhi Pinisetty
34	Darbar	2020	Tamil	₹190–240 crore	₹202–250 crore	AR Murugadoss	Rajinikanth, Suniel Shetty, Nayanthara, Nivetha Thomas
35	Mersal	2017	Tamil	₹120 crore	₹200–260 crore	Atlee	Vijay, S. J. Suryah, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nithya Menen, Sathyaraj
36	Radhe Shyam	2022	Telugu	₹300–350 crore	₹200–214.04 crore	Radha Krishna Kumar	Prabhas, Pooja Hegde
37	Dasavathaaram	2008	Tamil	₹60 crore	₹200 crore	K. S. Ravikumar	Kamal Haasan, Asin, Jaya Prada, Mallika Sherawat, K. R. Vijaya
38	Bheemla Nayak	2022	Telugu	₹75 crore	₹193 crore	Saagar K. Chandra	Pawan Kalyan, Rana Daggubati
39	Thunivu	2023	Tamil	₹200 crore	₹190–250 crore	H. Vinoth	Ajith Kumar, Manju Warrier, Samuthirakani, John Kokken
40	Vikrant Rona	2022	Kannada	₹95 crore	₹190 – 210 crore	Anup Bhandari	Sudeep, Milana Nagaraj, Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ashok, Jacqueline Fernandez
41	Bharat Ane Nenu	2018	Telugu	₹65 crore	₹187.6–225 crore	Koratala Siva	Mahesh Babu, Kiara Advani
42	Attarintiki Daredi	2013	Telugu	₹55 crore	₹187 crore	Trivikram Srinivas	Pawan Kalyan, Samantha, Pranitha Subhash
43	Viswasam	2019	Tamil	₹100 crore	₹185–200 crore	Siva	Ajith Kumar, Nayanthara, Jagapathi Babu
44	Sarkaru Vaari Paata	2022	Telugu	N/A	₹180–230 crore	Parasuram	Mahesh Babu, Keerthy Suresh, Samuthirakani
45	2018	2023	Malayalam	₹26 crore	₹176 crore	Jude Anthany Joseph	Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain, Lal
46	Annaatthe	2021	Tamil	₹180 crore	₹175–240 crore	Siva	Rajinikanth, Khushbu Meena, Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Jagapathi Babu
47	Maharshi	2019	Telugu	₹100–130 crore	₹175–200 crore	Vamshi Paidipally	Mahesh Babu, Pooja Hegde, Allari Naresh
48	Etharkkum Thunindhavan	2022	Tamil	₹75 crore	₹175–200 crore	Pandiraj	Suriya, Vinay Rai, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Sathyaraj, Saranya Ponvannan
49	Guntur Kaaram	2024	Telugu	₹200 crore	₹171.5 crore	Trivikram Srinivas	Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Ramya Krishna, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Jagapathi Babu
50	Valimai	2022	Tamil	₹150 crore	₹163.20–214 crore	H. Vinoth	Ajith Kumar, Karthikeya, Huma Qureshi, Gurbani Judge

FAQs

Which is the highest grossing South Indian film ever?

S. S. Rajamouli’s directed film ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ is the highest grossing South Indian film ever as well as highest grossing Telugu film, and the second highest-grossing Indian film worldwide. Upon its release, it grossed ₹1,737.68–1,810.60 crore worldwide ($256.26–267.01 million).

Which is the highest grossing Indian film ever?

Aamir Khan starrer ‘Dangal’ is the highest grossing Indian film ever. The film grossed ₹2,024 crore (US$340 million) worldwide and also became the first Indian movie, to cross ₹1000 crore and ₹2000 crore mark.

Which is the highest grossing Telugu film ever?

S. S. Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ is the highest grossing Telugu film of all time.

Which is the highest grossing Tamil film ever?

The bilingual film ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ is the highest grossing Tamil film of all time.

Which is the highest grossing Kannada film ever?

Prashanth Neel’s ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ is the highest grossing Kannada film of all time and the only movie grossed over 1000 crore till date.

Which is the highest grossing Malayalam film ever?

Jude Anthany Joseph directed film ‘2018’ is the highest grossing Malayalam film of all time. The film grossed around ₹177 crore (US$22 million) at the box office.

Which was the first 1000 crore movie in South India?

‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ is the first South Indian film to gross over ₹1000 crore worldwide. The film is directed by S. S. Rajamouli and features Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishna, Sathyaraj, Nassar, and Subbaraju.

Which was the first 100 crore movie in South India?

The first South Indian film to gross over ₹100 crore worldwide was 2007 Rajinikanth starring Tamil film Sivaji. The first Telugu film to enter the “100 Crore club” was 2009 film by S.S. Rajamouli, Magadheera.