Big Comment/ Raveena Tandon says South Indian film industry does not make ‘elitist’ movies: That’s what works

Raveena Tandon has worked across languages in movies from Hindi and South Indian languages as well. In a new interview, the actress compares the two industries and explains how they function differently. While she dismissed Bollywood as being ‘Westernised’, she praised the South Indian film industry to be more adhering to its roots.

Raveena Tandon says South industry sticks to their roots

In an interview with Rajshri Unplugged, Raveena Tandon remarked that it is a common notion that the South Indian film industry is more disciplined than Bollywood. She also pointed out that Bollywood also fails to connect to its roots, unlike the South. The actress commented, “What I enjoyed a lot in the South industry is that they were so strongly connected with their roots and culture that their films were super-duper hits. They don’t make much of elitist movies. I think that’s what works.” 

She further clarified that in Hindi film industry started making DVDs of the movies that were ot performing well at the box office and this is what caused a disconnect from the audience. She continued, “Whereas in Mumbai, they followed the westernised culture. They started making DVD copies of movies in Mumbai, which were not doing good business. So, it was very necessary that we stay connected with what our masses wanted. This I’ve learned from the South Industry.” 

Raveena Tandon says Bollywood was more concerned about her weight 

In the same interview, the KGF actress noted that while working on a South Indian film, she would not mind putting on weight and was free to eat whatever she wanted. In contrast, she says, Bollywood is more concerned about her putting on weight. She recalled, “When I used to come to Bombay (Mumbai), everyone used to say that I’ve put on weight. When I used to go to the South, they used to be like why have you lost weight? Eat a lot. So I used to enjoy it a lot. I used to leave dieting and eat idli, dosa and coconut chutney in abundance.”