Bollywood actress, Aishwarya Rai, who is busy in promotion of her upcoming film, Ponniyin Selvan: I, was asked about her thoughts on the debate around north versus south films recently. She said that right now was an ‘amazing time’ for Indian cinema as the audience wants to see films ‘from every part’. Many south Indian films, like RRR, Pushpa: The Rise and KGF Chapter 2, have become pan-Indian hits in recent times. Aishwarya said it was ‘evident’ that people are lapping up cinema from across the country.Aishwarya said that the language barrier is being broken amongst the entire country and films from all regions and languages are being welcomed by the entire nation. Over the past few months, many non-hindi films have been box office blockbusters over hindi films. Films such as SS Rajamouli’s RRR, starring Jr. NTR, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, were made in Telugu and then dubbed and released into several languages.At an event promoting Ponniyin Selvan: I in Delhi, Aishwarya Rai spoke about films from south India having a successful run in movie theatres across the country. Aishwarya was reported saying, “It’s an amazing time right now, where we need to break away from the typical way of looking at artists and cinema. I think it’s a great time right now, where all these barriers have gone down. People know our cinema nationally. In fact, they are wanting to see the cinema from every part.” The actress further added, “I think this is finally the perfect time where it has become accessible nationally through so many platforms. Everybody can view cinema for what it is, across India. So, I think we need to kind of break away from this conventional way of thinking and help our viewers, our audiences, and our readers also to not slide into that typical way of viewing. Art has always been there, found the audience, and has been appreciated; so, have the artists. But avenues were limited. Today is a great time when it has become accessible to everybody. And proof of the pudding is in the eating, right? It is so evident that people are embracing and lapping up cinema from across the country.”
