Indian Hercules vanquishes evil uncle, then clobbers Bollywood

THE revenge of a muscular prince, as told in an epic movie from southern India, has become the country's highest-grossing film and is demonstrating the growing challenge that regional moviemaking is posing to Bollywood's hegemony in the world's most prolific cinema market.

The film, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, has pulled in a box office record of almost 16 billion rupees (S$343 million) since its April 27 release by appealing to moviegoers across India.

Dubbed into Hindi to give it nationwide appeal, the film was originally shot in the south Indian languages of Tamil and Telugu without the Bollywood-star cast typically essential for a blockbuster Indian hit. Chinese, Japanese and Russian are next as the film readies for global distribution.