Collections, endorsement deals: South Indian stars outshining Bollywood

Arjun endorses redBus, KFC, Zomato and Astral, and charges Rs 7.5 crore per brand endorsement. Ranveer Singh, on the other hand, charges Rs 3-3.5 crore per endorsement

With consistent hits, the movie stars from South India are overtaking Bollywood stars in brand endorsement deals. Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu, Rashmika Mandanna, Samantha Prabhu, Prabhas and Vijay Deverakonda are among the actors charging the highest for brand deals, some of them even more than top Bollywood names like Ranveer Singh, a report by Economic Times (ET) stated. 

Allu Arjun will reportedly soon be signed by Coca-Cola. "We are evaluating to expand the endorsement with Allu even across Hindi-speaking markets, given his increasing pan-India popularity," Arnab Roy, vice president and head of marketing at Coca-Cola, India and Southwest Asia was quoted as saying by ET. 

Arjun endorses redBus, KFC, Zomato and Astral. He charges Rs 7.5 crore per brand endorsement. Ranveer Singh, on the other hand, charges Rs 3-3.5 crore per brand endorsement. 

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Arjun's Pushpa co-star Rashmika Mandanna endorses Kingfisher Beer, boAt, Cashify and McDonald's. Mandanna and Arjun's Pushpa grossed over Rs 365 crore worldwide.

Samantha Prabhu is the face of endorsements of Kurkure, Myntra, Mamaearth, and Nestle Munch chocolate. Her pan-India appeal boomed after her role in the Amazon Prime series, Family Man 2.  

Ram Charan, after the success of RRR, was signed by Frooti alongside Alia Bhatt. Mahesh Babu, who endorses Royal Stag, TVS Motor and Mountain Dew reportedly charges Rs 1 crore per endorsement.  

In the last few months, several Bollywood movies like Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandha, Samshera, and Jayeshbhai Jordaar performed poorly at the box office. South Indian movies like Pushpa, RRR, KGF: Chapter 2, and Vikram, on the other hand, ran housefull for days.

"What was earlier massive regional appeal is now massive mainstream appeal," Rediffusion managing director Sandeep Goyal told ET.