For decades, the four major South Indian film industries (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada) largely operated in silos. However, the early 2010s saw a shift. Malayalam cinema, known for its realistic storytelling and strong character arcs, struggled to find audiences outside Kerala due to language and cultural nuances.

The massive pan-India success of Baahubali (2015) proved that dubbing could work. But before that, smaller Malayalam films dubbed into Telugu began gaining traction on satellite TV channels and later on YouTube.