Entire film fraternity from the south felt insulted when Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to ignore south filmmakers and personalities during his interaction with Indian filmmakers to discuss initiatives to mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Almost all the film personalities whom PM Modi met came from Bollywood. This made people feel that despite the sensation of Baahubali, things did not change even an inch for the South filmmakers.
Rajamouli with Baahubali elevated the standard of Indian cinema at the international level and recently the film became the first Non-English film to be screened at the world-famous Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Even the organizers got surprised at the reception the film got which top Hollywood films did not get. This showed the power of south cinema.
Earlier, Shankar and other directors, stars like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Chiranjeevi, Mohan Lal etc. brought many laurels and showed the power of south. Despite this, politicians and people are under the impression that Bollywood represents Indian cinema. Many thought that PM Modi who talks of Akhand Bharat will erase such differences.
But things did not change and this hurt many. Mega Star Chiranjeevi's daughter in law Upasana pointed out this glaring difference. Though Dil Raju attended the meet with Modi, he was sidelined by Bollywood celebs who competed to click selfies with the Prime Minister.
Some say when entire world recognized the strength of Tollywood and south cinema, do we need PM's recognition. South filmmakers should come with more films to shake Bollywood and elevate the standard of Indian cinema at the international level.