South directors on Bollywood

South films have created a sensation across the world and people are still raving about RRR, Kantara, KGF and others. In the meantime Bollywood lost its sheen and identity in trying to emulate the West by copying Hollywood films forgetting it's origins.

In the midst of all this, South directors, Mani Ratnam, Vetri Maaran, Rishabh Shetty shared their thoughts on Bollywood. Mani Ratnam said “If Hindi cinema can stop calling themselves Bollywood, then people will stop identifying Indian cinema as Bollywood.”

Vetri Maaran shared “I’m not a fan of the ‘woods’. Like Bollywood, Kollywood. We need to see it as Indian cinema on the whole.” He went on to add “The more rooted that art is the more universal the appeal is. The impact is created because we are telling stories of our people and of our lands,”

Rishabh Shetty echoes the views saying "more local, rooted your story is, the wider will be the acceptance". They are interacting at the second edition of CII Dakshin Media and Entertainment Summit in Chennai and the topic was south Indian films' seminal influence on world cinema. 

At the two day event Prem Rakshit, the choreographer for the Oscar winning song Naatu Naatu (RRR) and Kartiki Gonsalves, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker were honoured. The event witnessed the participation of 60 renowned speakers and 700 delegates from across India, including actors, producers, directors, exhibitors, national heads of OTT platforms and social media influencers.