Kollywood refers to the South Indian film industry predominantly working in films of Tamil language. It is mostly based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Kollywood film industry was, at one point, flying high. The Tamil films were at their finest around 2010, but unfortunately lost to to Tollywood after that. Recently, however, Kollywood has produced a number of blockbuster films that took over the world. Here are the top 10 highest grossing Kollywood films that the world loves.
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
Often considered as one of the most awaited sequels of all time, Baahubali 2 had the entire world at the edge of their seats for what felt like ages. Ever since the first movie of the duology, Baahubali: the beginning, came out in July 2015, its Indian audience, as well as its international audience, was waiting impatiently for the sequel with only one question on their lips: why did Katappa kill Baahubali? The answer was finally revealed two years later in April 2017.
Technically a prequel, the film follows the story of a young prince who is betrayed by his brother and thrown over. We witness an exhilerating turn of events when one of his most loyal, best friends and father figure, kills him for a greater cause. Baahubali’s son, whose story we see in the first film, comes back to avenge his father’s death and release his mother who was imprisoned by her brother in law.
Starring Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati and many more renounced actors, and directed by the brilliant S. S. Rajamouli, the film grossed approximately Rs. 2017 crores worldwide on the day it was released. It earned about Rs. 510.99 crore in the domestic box office and a total of Rs. 17.065 billion worldwide. It remains one of the highest grossing Kollywood films of all time.
2.0
The sequel to the hit film Enthiran in the Enthiran franchise, 2.0 stars Rajinikanth as Dr. Vaseegaran and makes a comeback of Chitti the robot. This science fiction features Akshay Kumar as the antagonist Pakshi Rajan who interferes with the mobile phones that then prompt Dr. Vaseegaran, with the help of his robot Nila to reinstate Chitti.
S. Shankar directs this film that grossed over Rs. 25 crore on the first day of release. Moreover, it earned about Rs. 190.48 crore in India and up to Rs 800 crore worldwide.
Baahubali: The Beginning
The first film of the Baahubali duology; Baahubali: the beginning, also spread around the world like wildfire, just like its sequel. Baahubali earned about Rs 586.45 crore in total and critics considered it to be the biggest India film at the time.
Vikram
This next film is currently in the theatres blowing the public’s minds away. Vikram is a thriller about a black ops team trying to capture and taker out a bunch of masked murderers. Recently released on the 3rd of June, the movie has already made close to Rs 400 crore worldwide.
Reviewers are hopeful and almost sure that this is by far the highest grossing Kollywood film of all time. In fact, Vikram is also the fastest earning Tamil film yet. Moreover, it is not even including the translations and other versions.
Enthiran
The first movie of the Enthiran Franchise. This story is a science fiction about a genius scientist, Dr. Vaseegaran, who creates the perfect lifelike humanoid, Chitti. However, this humanoid turns corrupt and things go south. Rajinikant plays Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, the robot, and Aishwariya Rai plays his girlfriend Sana. With S. Shankar as its director, the movie grossed Rs 290 crore worldwide. It remains one of the best and most remembered Kollywood films of all time.
Kabali
Another Rajinikanth movie, where Kabali, a retired gangster wants revenge and to find his wife and daughter. Pa Ranjith directed this movie and it grossed over Rs 300 crore wordwide.
Bigil
Released on 25th October 2019, Bigil follows a young man (Vijay) who has lost his dreams of becoming a footballer after the death of his father, but then gets convinced by a friend to coach a women’s football team, which then changes his life around.
Director Atlee Kumar made the movie on a budget of Rs 180 crore and earned Rs 305 crore worldwide. Bigil was the highest grossing Tamil film of 2019.
Mersal
Another Atlee Kumar movie starring Vijay where Vijay plays a doctor falsely accused of the murder of his colleague. The movie brought out shocking twists and turns that caught the audience off guard. This Kollywood film grossed Rs 260 crore worldwide.
Beast
Beast is another recent movie, which only came out in April 2022. Also starring Vijay, this film was written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. It is an action thriller where a former intelligence agent has to jump into action after a mall is attacked. The movie was made with a budget of Rs 150 crore and earned around Rs 250.05 crore worldwide.
Sarkar
Finally, a political action film that came out in 2018. A.R.Murugados wrote and directed this movie on a budget of Rs 110 crore. Once again, it stars Vijay, and tells a story of a businessman who found out about the follies of the government and strives to correct it. The film grossed around Rs 257.80 crores wordwide.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the number 1 movie in Kollywood?
Bahubali 2: The Conclusion is one of the best and highest grossing movies of Kollywood.
Which is better, Bollywood or Kollywood?
Both the industries are good, however, since the vast majority belong to Bollywood, it is commercially doing better.