‘They're telling stories, we're selling stars’: Anupam Kher on South vs Bollywood films debate

It is no secret that Bollywood films are failing left, right, and center at the box office. A number of high-profile Hindi films, featuring some of the biggest actors of the industry, have tanked without a trace. But at the same time, South Indian films are not only performing well in their home states but also in Hindi-speaking states.

Over the past few months, several South Indian films have done exceptionally well in Bollywood, including Pushpa: The Rise, RRR, and KGF: Chapter 2. The most recent South Indian film that has set the cash registers jingling in the Hindi-speaking belt is Karthikeya 2, originally made in Tamil. Veteran actor Anupam Kher plays a pivotal role in the film.

During a recent interview, Kher opened up on the ongoing South vs Bollywood films debate and said, “You make things for consumers. (Problem starts) the day you start looking down on consumers, that, ‘we're doing you a favour by making a great film. Now you are watching a great film.’ Greatness is achieved by a collective effort and I have learned by doing films in Telugu...I just did another film in Telugu, I did a film in the Tamil language, and I’m going to do a Malayalam film."

He went on to add, "I think over there, I am not differentiating between the two but I think (their) cinema is relevant because they are not aping Hollywood. They are telling stories, over here we are selling stars.”

Talking about Karthikeya 2, the film has put up a great show at the box office. Directed by Chandoo Mondeti, the film stars Nikhil Siddhartha in the lead role. It is the sequel to the sequel to the 2014 film Karthikeya.

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