We Have Overcome Discrimination, Says Megastar Chiranjeevi On Southern Films' Pan-India Success

Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Sudeep Sanjeev's Twitter banter around Hindi being a national language has sparked a nationwide debate. Actors have been sharing their two cents on the term 'pan-India' used for films.

While some think it's actually a compliment for Indian films, actor Sidharth who has done films in many languages, recently called the term 'disrespectful'.

Twitter

Recently, Chiranjeevi had shared that it was "humiliating" for him as an artiste from the South to see Indian cinema being defined just by Hindi films.

Recalling an incident in 1988, Chiranjeevi had flown down to Delhi for the National Film Awards and found that the organizers knew little about South cinema. Even the hoardings were dominated by Bollywood stars.

Indiatimes

"It was very humiliating for me. I felt insulted, very hurt that Indian cinema meant only Hindi cinema and was projected thus for a long time. But films like 'Baahubali' and 'RRR' overcame barriers and proved they are also Indian cinemas,"

Chiranjeevi was present at a pre-release event of his latest film 'Acharya' when he shared how he had visited Delhi to attend the National Film Awards as his co-co-production 'Rudraveena,' was to be given the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.

Chiranjeevi

"We were sipping tea in the hall adorned with posters highlighting the glory of the Indian cinema. There were some footnotes for the posters put up on the walls. There were photos of Prithiviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, and Dharmendra. They glorified various directors and heroines, and we thought they would also talk about South Indian cinema in such great detail. "But they just displayed a huge still of MGR (M G Ramachandran) and Jayalalithaa dancing and described it as South Indian cinema. Besides, a picture of Prem Nazir, who played a hero in the highest number of films in the history of Indian cinema, was shown," he said.

Chiranjeevi, the star of films such as 'Indra,' 'Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy,' 'Tagore' and 'Gang Leader,' said it was "sad" to see that greats like Dr. Rajkumar, A Nageswara Rao, and NT Rama Rao couldn't find a place among the posters of the famous Indian film stars displayed at the venue.

Twitter

"They were like demigods (South stars). Their photos did not find a place there. Even those of Sivaji Ganesan of the Tamil film industry could not be found. It was so humiliating for me at that time. I felt insulted and very sad. They projected only Hindi films as Indian cinema and dismissed other films as if they were regional language films. They didn't even bother to acknowledge or respect our contribution."

However, the actor is happy that the recent box office success of films from the South has altered people's perceptions.

Twitter

"I feel so proud that our film industry has proved that we are no longer regional cinema, and Telugu cinema removed the barriers and made it as Indian cinema... Everyone is amazed at our success. Thanks to 'Baahubali,' 'Baahubali 2', and 'RRR,' we have overcome the discrimination. These films have helped us a great deal. We are so proud that the Telugu industry has made these films," he said.

Bollywood films have been facing tough competition from southern films on the box office front.

In recent months, 'Pushpa' (Telugu), 'RRR' (Telugu), and 'KGF: Chapter 2' (Kannada) have emerged as pan-India blockbusters earning more than Hindi films like 'Gangubai Kathiawadi,' 'Jersey,' and 'Runway 34' among others.

(With PTI inputs)

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.)