Directors from South Indian cinema taking over mega-mainstream projects in B-town

Not long after Allu Arjun, Prabhas and Ram Charan became a national rage, we will see directors from South Indian cinema taking over mega-mainstream projects— 2025 sees a host of Bollywood stars, including Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Shahid Kapoor and Tiger Shroff, do films with big names from the regional industries. With actors, directors and technicians coming together, ditching the boundaries, we are evolving as a one big pan-Indian market!

Here’s a lowdown on fresh director-actor pairings and the projects they are working on.

Action, dance & more: Deva

Dance meets action as pulsating beats take fore in Deva’s teaser. The film has Shahid Kapoor in the titular role, and is directed by Rosshan Andrrews, who works largely in Malayalam cinema. Once again, the film has solid Bollywood backing with Roy Kapur Films and Zee Studios joining hands. As deft in comedy as crime, Rosshan Andrrews marks his Bollywood debut with this gritting thriller, which is scheduled for a theatrical release on January 31.

Visual appeal: Baaghi 4

If you haven’t caught the drift so far, these are all action thrillers, one even grittier than the other! The teaser of Baaghi 4 isn’t for the soft-hearted, as chilling visuals and blood-splattered scenes that announce the arrival of Kannada director A Harsha, replacing Ahmed Khan (who helmed Baaghi 2 and Baaghi 3) on the director’s seat. Tiger Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Sonam Bajwa and Harnaaz Sandhu join this action thriller, which is due for release in September. While we have seen South Indian film directors, including Priyadarshan, Mani Ratnam, Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Prabhudeva, making a mark in Bollywood, more and more directors and technicians are now joining hands. Atlee, who started with Tamil cinema and then gave the blockbuster Jawan, gives high hopes that these pan-Indian collaborations will rock the BO.

Mix and match: Jaat

How about a Telugu cinema frontrunner directing a film titled Jaat? Well, that’s 2025 for you and the age of pan-Indian cinema. This Hindi action thriller has our very own Punjabi puttar Sunny Deol in the lead role along with Haryanvi chora Randeep Hooda. The film will be directed by Gopichand Malineni. The cinematography is by Rishi Punjabi, while Telugu editor Navin Nooli of Pushpa 2-fame is also a part of the team. The film is likely to be released in April.

Salman special: Sikandar

The first Eid of 2025 will obviously see Salman Khan on screen again. ‘Suna hai ke bahut log mere peeche pade hain, bus mere mudne ki der hai’… opens the teaser of the upcoming film Sikandar, which is being helmed by the ‘golden messenger’ of Tamil cinema AR Murugadoss. He’s no stranger to Bollywood, having given the very successful Ghajini, a remake of his Tamil hit by the same name. Action remains Sikandar’s forte as well, the teaser offering a full on display of arms, followed by roaring action. The film, which sees Salman in a dual role, has been written by Rajat Arora, Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal, and backed by Sajid Nadiadwala. The cinematography is by National Award-winning Tirru, who debuted in Kannada cinema and has since worked in multiple languages, including Hindi. Call it the meeting of best minds…Sikandar hits the silver screen on March 30 on Eid-ul-Fitr.