Rohit Shetty says South industry has long existed but trend of 'Bollywood Khatam' will never happen

The ongoing debate on South Industry taking over Bollywood does not seem to end. Recently Bollywood filmmaker Rohit Shetty spoke about the issue while promoting his new commercial with actor Ranveer Singh . The filmmaker said that it is not a new phenomenon as the history says South industry existed for ages, but Bollywood will never come to an end.

While interacting with the media, the Golmaal director explained how the trend of ‘Bollywood is over’ traces back to history. "The trend of Bollywood khatam (Bollywood is over) will never happen. In the 80s, when VCRs came to the forefront, people said that theatre will go out of business, and Bollywood is finished. Then, recently with the boom of OTT, many people said that Bollywood is finished. So Bollywood kabhi khatam nahi hoga (Bollywood will never end)."

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Elaborating further, Rohit pointed out that the culture of remaking South Indian films in Hindi has been since the 60s. "When you check the history, you will learn that the South (Film Industry) has been there since the 60s and 50s. Shashi Kapoor's Pyaar Kiye Jaa was a remake of a South film. In the 80s, when Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna were at their peak, a new boy entered into the cinema world, Kamal Haasan sir with Ek Duje Ke Liye, and it was a hit," he said.

He continued, “The superstars' heroines of the 80s and 90s, Sridevi and Jaya Pradha, are from the South. Roja , a film that brought a major change in cinema, was directed by Mani (Ratnam) sir. Ram Gopal Varma came up with an action film with Nagarjuna. The biggest music director, AR Rahman, is from the South. Jeetendra sir's films like Himmatwala , Justice Chowdhary, and Mawali are South remakes. So they are there for ages," he added.

Meanwhile, Rohit will soon jet off to Cape Town, South Africa, to shoot for the stunt reality show, Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 12. His next directorial venture is Cirkus, featuring Ranveer Singh, Pooja Hegde , and Jacqueline Fernandes. Besides it, he is also busy shooting for his digital debut series Indian Police Force starring Sidharth Malhotra in the lead role.