India, Aug. 12 -- For years, to the northern Indian audience, 'south' films meant Tamil and Telugu. These were the two industries that had stars who would cross over in Hindi films, and some of their films would do good business as well. Malayalam was regarded as good cinema, but it never reached the masses in the north. And Kannada cinema was relegated to being the poor cousin of the other three. It was KGF that changed this perception. The film series' record-breaking box office collections, particularly in the north, raised the stature of Kannada cinema. Soon, hits like Vikrant Rona and Kantara followed suit, and the scale of Kannada films was elevated.

Chaluve Gowda, producer of films like KGF and Kantara, believes that the audience ...