Each time you scroll TV Channels, you come across weirdly named films which turn out to be badly dubbed versions of some film from the South. And it is very likely that these shaped our perspective about non-Bollywood cinema until the likes of Pushpa, KGF, & RRR came about- which, IMHO, are well made but don't focus on the story too much. But what is rarely talked about (even though most of Bollywood's top performing movies off late have been remakes of South films), is how South Indian cinema is constantly pushing the boundaries of what a "successful" film is, and striking conversations that don't always find space in the mainstream.
There is so much more to the films made down south than the action and bad dubbing. So, here is a little list of 12 films you can watch to take those baby steps beyond Bollywood. This list is, by no means, exhaustive or even "iconic", but includes a few recent ones that particularly stood out to me and that most young folks would relate to, in my opinion.
