New Delhi, July 23 -- Revenue sharing has become a familiar way to finance big-ticket Hindi films, helping producers contain upfront costs while giving top actors a larger share of a film's success. As production budgets swell and revenue streams diversify, the debate is now spilling into regional cinema-but there is little agreement on whether the model can be transplanted wholesale.

Southern film industries, where marquee actors often command outsized fixed fees regardless of box-office performance, remain divided over shifting to backend participation. The debate has gained urgency after the Tamil Film Producers Council staged a one-day token strike on 2 May demanding that leading actors and technicians move away from hefty upfront re...