Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi Clash Over Bollywood vs South Cinema

A heated exchange occurred between producers Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi during a producers’ roundtable by Galatta Plus. Boney discussed the overseas performance of South Indian films, mentioning that “Telugu films have a distinct market in the US, while Tamil films have a unique audience in Singapore and Malaysia,” and added that the Gulf region is a “cosmopolitan area.”

In response, Naga Vamsi pointed out that the Gulf also has a “huge market” for Malayalam films.

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Naga Vamsi says South Indians’ view on films has evolved

He then remarked, “One thing you must accept, though it may sound harsh, is that we, South Indians, have changed how you [Bollywood] view cinema. You [Bollywood] were focused on making films for Bandra and Juhu. The shift became evident with films like Baahubali, RRR, Animal, and Jawan.”

Shaking his head, Boney disagreed, saying Naga Vamsi was “wrong there.” Naga Vamsi interrupted, highlighting that when discussing films, Boney mentioned Baahubali and RRR (Telugu films) after the “historical” Mughal-E-Azam, but never referenced a Hindi film.

Boney responded, “In this forum, we can’t discuss every detail we know. We need to speak in broader terms. When I mention Mughal-E-Azam, Baahubali, and so on, it’s not that I’ve overlooked other films. I’m aware of them.”

“At the tip of my fingers, I could easily list those names, but I don’t believe Telugu cinema has taught Indians anything new. It has always been there. Even the hero of Pushpa 2, Allu Arjun, mentioned that he is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. He could have just as easily said he was a fan of NT Rama Rao.”

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