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The South cinema vs Bollywood debate, which began during a recent panel discussion featuring producers Naga Vamsi and Boney Kapoor, shows no signs of fading as more industry figures are now stepping forward to share their perspectives. The latest to weigh in is producer Dinesh Vijan who, however, emphasised that the opinion of one person should not be taken as representative of an entire region’s mindset. Vijan is known for bankrolling films such as Love Aaj Kal (2009), Stree (2018), Luka Chuppi (2019), Mimi (2021), Bhediya (2022), Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023), Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024), Munjya (2024) and Stree 2 (2024).
During a Galatta Plus roundtable, Boney Kapoor highlighted the global reach of Hindi cinema, citing the enduring popularity of stars like Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan in countries such as Russia, Egypt and Morocco. He also acknowledged the robust markets for Telugu and Tamil films in regions like the United States, Singapore and Malaysia.
In response, Naga Vamsi argued that South Indian cinema — especially films like RRR and Baahubali — has been instrumental in reshaping the trajectory of Hindi cinema, forcing it to rethink its approach. “This might sound harsh, but we South Indians have changed the way you (Boney) look at cinema — even for Bollywood. Because you guys were stuck in making films for Bandra and Juhu. But now, with films like RRR, Baahubali, Animal, Jawan, etc, these have kind of changed your version. After Mughal-E-Azam, you mentioned films like Baahubali and RRR, which were Telugu films. You never really spoke of a Hindi film’s name after Mughal-E-Azam,” he said.
At the trailer launch of his upcoming Akshay Kumar and Veer Pahariya-starrer Sky Force, Dinesh Vijan, also the founder of entertainment company Maddock Films which bankrolled Stree 2 — the third highest-grossing Indian film and the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024 — was asked his opinion on Vamsi’s comments and he offered a measured response. “Since the pandemic, there have been five Hindi films which crossed Rs 500 crore. Maybe we don’t speak a lot about ourselves, but the fact is we have had five huge films,” he said.
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Vijan added, “Just Maddock Films and Jio Studios aren’t enough to run the industry. I think, there might be one-two people here and there who say that (what Vamsi did)… but whenever I’ve gone to the South, they’ve been very encouraging. So I think if we start looking at it like it’s the Indian film industry, maybe Rs 500 crore + Rs 800 crore equals Rs 1,300 crore, right? So why don’t we aim for that?”
Akshay Kumar, present at the event, expressed his agreement with Vijan but refrained from adding further comments.
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