| Kannada | |
| Telugu | |
| Tamil | |
| Malayalam |
Total revenue figures are not available for the Kannada and Malayalam movie industries. So we use another measure:
| Kannada | ||
| Telugu | ||
| Tamil | ||
| Malayalam |
Immediately we see the strength of each film industry. How to explain this difference? We start with the most basic fact:
| Karnataka | |
| Andhra Pradesh | |
| Tamil Nadu | |
| Kerala |
1. Karnataka is straightaway at a disadvantage – being only the 3rd biggest state in south India. (only Kerala is smaller)
But how many people actually speak Kannada (as their 1st language)?
| Kannada | |
| Telugu | |
| Tamil | |
| Malayalam |
2. Now the situation becomes even worse. The Kannada-speaking population is much smaller than Karnataka's population. In every state, some people speak another language (as their 1st language). But the situation is worst in Karnataka.
[So Karnataka's size is misleading – only about 60% of its people speak Kannada as their 1st language]
Next, it's not enough to have people. The people need money to see movies. So:
| Karnataka | |
| Andhra Pradesh | |
| Tamil Nadu | |
| Kerala |
3. The situation gets even worse for Karnataka – with almost the lowest per capita income in south India.
[Tamil Nadu is the most developed state; but Kerala has the highest per capita income due to money sent by Keralite workers in West Asia]
Finally if we multiply the per capita income by the number of language-speakers, we get a measure of the total market size in that language:
| Kannada | |
| Telugu | |
| Tamil | |
| Malayalam |
4. The Kannada movie industry has the smallest market in south India. The markets for the Telugu and Tamil movie industries are almost 2 times bigger.
That is why the Kannada movie industry is so weak.
