Boney Kapoor, Naga Vamsi In Heated Argument Over Bollywood Vs South Cinema. Watch Video
A war of words took place between Indian producers Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi over South cinema’s influence on Bollywood.
The North vs South film industry debate is not just among fans. It looks like even the producers from both the industries don't agree on many topics. Recently, a war of words took place between producers Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi when they appeared on the producers' roundtable held by Galatta Plus. The entire matter started when Boney Kapoor spoke about how Telugu films do well in the US and how Tamil movies have a huge market in Singapore and Malaysia.
He also said, “Gulf, of course, is a Cosmopolitan area”. To this, producer Naga Vamsi interjected to say that Gulf is a “huge market” for Malayalam films as well.
“One thing, sir, you have to accept this. It might sound really harsh. But we, South Indians, have changed the way you look at cinema… for Bollywood also. Because, you guys were stuck in making films for Bandra and Juhu. You witnessed a change with Baahubali, RRR, Animal,” said Naga Vamsi.
However, Boney Kapoor did not take agree with this comment as he vehemently shook his head. He then said, “I was talking about historicals. See, in this forum, we can’t discuss every bit of knowledge that we know. You just have 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.”
Naga Vamsi interrupted, “Not taught, sir. We just rediscovered Hindi cinema because of these mass, huge event films.”
“But, it's nothing like Telugu cinema has taught Indians. I don't believe that. It was always there. Even the hero (Allu Arjun) of Pushpa 2 said that he is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. He could have said that he was a big fan of NT Rama Rao,” he added.
‘You guys (Bollywood) are stuck in making films for Bandra & Juhu’ - Harsh Reality!! pic.twitter.com/VwEZNWAHk3
— Aakashavaani (@TheAakashavaani) December 30, 2024
Naga Vamsi then pointed out that recent films which have done well in Hindi are all made by South directors. He cited the examples of ‘Baahubali', 'RRR', 'KGF: Chapter 2', 'Kalki 2898 AD' and 'Pushpa 2'. He even mentioned films like ‘Animal’ and ‘Jawan’.
Boney Kapoor then cut him short, saying that he is forgetting past Hindi hits like 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun', 'Gadar' and 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'.
For the unversed, Naga Vamsi has bankrolled films like 'Jersey', 'Square', 'Lucky Baskhar' and 'Gangs of Godavari'.
Boney Kapoor has backed several projects such as 'Mr India', 'Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja', 'No Entry', 'Mom' and 'Maidaan'.
