Amaran to Lucky Baskhar: South films dominate Netflix's top 10 most-watched list on New Year's

There are no two ways to say how 2024 became the year for South cinema. Right from Malayalam cinema delivering blockbuster after another to Telugu cinema dishing out pan-Indian content, south film industries, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada put together, have ruled the Indian entertainment industry, emerging as direct competitors to the Hindi film industry.

On the first day of 2025, the top 10 of streaming giant Netflix picks in India, too include a handful of south releases, including Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi-starrer and Dulquer Salman’s Lucky Baskhar.

South films dominate Netflix's Top 10 most-watched list

2024 belonged to the South cinema. On New Year’s Day, Netflix’s top 10 most watched films listed Tamil film Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi’s biopic drama Amaran and Telugu crime drama Lucky Baskhar featuring Dulquer Salmaan in the lead role.

Sivakarthikeyan’s Amaran is a biopic on the late Major Mukund Varadarajan. The film is directed by Rajkumar Periasamy and stars Sai Pallavi as the female lead. Amaran became one of the box office successes in 2024, and with it streaming now on Netflix, the film has once again topped the charts as one of the most-watched films. Meanwhile, Lucky Baskhar which had a fantabulous run, is a period drama helmed by Venky Atluri, about a bank employee turning smuggler and indulging in malpractices, has kept the audience hooked to watching.

Also read: Amaran Movie Review: Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi champion a film on Major Mukund Varadarajan, with subtle performances and clean writing 

What are the other South titles on Netflix ranking in the top 10?

The recently released Tamil film Sorgavaasal, featuring RJ Balaji in the lead role, has found new love from the streaming audience. Set in a prison, the action drama revolves around an outbreak that happens in a prison after a powerful thug dies inside.

Also read: Sorgavaasal Movie Review: RJ Balaji and Selvaraghavan’s prison break film with interesting stretches left to become underwhelming watc h

RRR: Behind and Beyond, a documentary that explores the making of SS Rajamouli’s film, also found a place in the chart as most viewed. The documentary explores the behind-the-scenes of how the magnum opus was made, featuring Ram Charan and Jr NTR.