Exclusive | Naseeruddin Shah says South cinema is doing better than ‘most Hindi films’ as they’re more ‘imaginative’: ‘It wasn’t just a line of girls dancing…’

The Hindi film industry had a lukewarm 2022, with only few films doing well at the box office. This year, however, started on a high note with Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan doing historic business.

“Even the commercial movies made in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu are imaginative. They are original. They may be crass in their taste, but the execution is always flawless. I have found this for a very long time. Even their song picturisation, even in those corny films of Jeetendra and Sridevi, insane as it may be with hundreds of matkas in a line, but at least it was an original idea.

“It wasn’t just a line of girls dancing not quite together and one central dancer. So, I really think South Indian films work harder and it is no mystery why their films are doing better than most of the Hindi cinema,” he added.

Shah will be next seen in ZEE5’s original series Taj – Divided by Blood, as King Akbar. The veteran said whether one likes it or not, streaming platforms are the future for entertainment. Shah, who has been acting for screen for nearly 50 years now, said he can see a future where cinema halls are wiped out.

“OTT is the future, whether we like it or not. I have been predicting disappearance of movie halls, all over the world, for a while. I think it will happen in another 10 years, when there will be no such thing as a movie theatre any longer. Movies might become a solitary watching experience which, I don’t know whether it’s good or bad.

“But you can’t really watch a blood drenched revenge drama, with people sticking swords in each other’s guts over your dinner table with your family and children. So I wonder if that is going to affect the making of such films, but I personally enjoy doing work on OTT, whether it is a performance, reading a poem, reciting a story. I find it challenging and we better get used to it.”

When asked if cinema halls vanish, what will happen to the spectacle films meant to be enjoyed on the big screen, Shah said, “We will begin to enjoy them on the small screen, I suppose.”

Produced by Contiloe Digital, Taj – Divided by Blood will see Dharmendra as Sheikh Salim Christi, encapsulating the reign of King Akbar who is on a quest to find a worthy successor.

The ensemble cast includes Aditi Rao Hydari as Anarkali, Aashim Gulati as Prince Salim, Taha Shah as Prince Murad, Shubham Kumar Mehra as Prince Daniyal, Sandhya Mridul as Queen Jodha Bai, Zareena Wahab as Queen Salima, Sauraseni Maitra as Mehr un Nisa and Rahul Bose as Mirza Hakim.

William Borthwick is the showrunner of Taj with Simon Fantauzzo as the writer and Ronald Scalpello as the director. Taj – Divided by Blood will stream on ZEE5 on March 3.