Karan Johar says South Industry has raised status for Indian cinema, denies its competition with Bollywood

Amid the ongoing Bollywood vs South industry debate, Karan Johar has maintained that he wants to be proud of Indian cinema as a whole. The filmmaker said that the success of South films such as SS Rajamouli’s RRR , Sukumar’s Pushpa, and KGF has raised the status of Indian cinema.

Speaking at the trailer launch of his upcoming Dharma production venture, Jug Jugg Jeeyo , the filmmaker said, “When we talk about films like Pushpa, RRR, and KGF doing good business, we can truly say that this is Indian Cinema. I can say I am proud of Indian cinema as a whole. They have the raised the status for Indian cinema. Rajamouli sir, Sukumar and KGF makers have all told us how far we can go and how much we can do, they have truly raised our standards. We hope that films of every language do well whether it is Tamil, Telugu or Marathi. We just don’t want any language to be compared to each other. We just want to be proud of Indian cinema.”

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For the unversed, Karan’s production house has presented the Hindi-dubbed version of Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), which was originally filmed in Telugu and Tamil. Citing its example, the filmmaker further said that there can’t be any competition within the same industry. “If you remember, many years ago I presented Bahubali. In fact, I have that much faith in Indian cinema. How can there be competition within the same industry? We grow together. To compete would completely not serve the requirement of the entertainment industry. We have to be one collective unit. The best crossover that has happened was when the South cinema did well in North. It doesn’t matter if the film is screened at some festival abroad or if we win an Oscar.”

Meanwhile, Karan’s upcoming Jug Jugg Jeeyo is a family entertainer that explores the complexities of relationships. Directed by Raj Mehta, the film stars Varun Dhawan , Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor , and Neetu Kapoor in pivotal roles. It is slated to hit big screens on June 24.