Bollywood Vs South Cinema: Boney Kapoor Irked After Naga Vamsi Says 'Hindi Cinema Witnessed Change After RRR, Baahubali'

Producers Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi recently engaged in a war of words over the long-standing debate Bollywood vs South Films. During a recent roundtable interview, Lucky Baskhar's producer argued that South films such as Baahubali and RRR, reshaped Hindi cinema's approach to mass entertainment. This didn't go down well with Kapoor and he disagreed by pointing out the impact of Bollywood across the globe. The Maidaan producer even pointed out that Pushpa 2 actor Allu Arjun, in an interview, shared that he is a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan.

Boney Kapoor talked about different markets for specific film industries in Indian cinema

Boney Kapoor appeared at the roundtable interview hosted by Galatta Plus where he, along with other producers, discussed cinema. During which he said, "In Russia, for instance, Raj Kapoor is remembered till today. When I visited Egypt, they would talk only about Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. In Morocco, again, it’s Amitabh Bachchan. The King of Morocco had honoured Amitabh and later Shah Rukh Khan. Telugu films and Tamil films have unique markets. For instance, Telugu films have a unique market in the US, while Tamil films have a strong presence in Singapore and Malaysia. That’s a significant chunk of the overseas business. And the Gulf, of course, is a cosmopolitan area."

Adding to this, Naga Vamsi said, "No, the Gulf has a huge market for Malayalam films."

Naga Vamsi's big claims

Naga Vamsi added to Kapoor's statement and said that this might sound "harsh" but it was South Indians who changed the way you look at cinema. "This might sound harsh, but we South Indians have changed the way you look at cinema — even for Bollywood." He explained his statement, "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."

Boney Kapoor's subtle reply to Naga Vamsi

On hearing this, Kapoor explained that he can't discuss every bit of knowledge at this forum and has to speak in broader terms. So, when I mention Mughal-E-Azam, Baahubali, and all, it’s not that I missed out on those films. I’m aware of them. But it’s not as though Telugu films have taught Indian cinema…" However, Vamsi interrupted him by saying, “Not taught, sir. We just rediscovered Hindi cinema because of these mass, huge event films.”

Kapoor subtly disagreed with Vamsi's remark and said it was always there. And pointed out how once Allu Arjun confessed his liking for Amitabh Bachchan. To this, Vamsi replied that he is a fan of SRK. Kapoor continued "He (Allu Arjun) could have said he is a big fan of NTR." To this, Vamsi said that Allu Arjun is a huge fan of Chiranjeevi, too. However, Kapoor countered him by saying that the Pushpa actor may be a mega star's fan but he didn't speak in media like he did for Big B, which means barrier is never a language.

He concluded by saying that he didn't mean to undermine Vamsi, he was simply explaining his perspective.