Shahid Kapoor tells Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam audience to accept Hindi films: 'Khula dil hona chahiye'

Shahid Kapoor said Bollywood has ‘made very good action films’ as he asked south audience to watch Hindi films, too. He said people should 'have a big heart'.

Actor Shahid Kapoor, who will be next seen in director Ali Abbas Zafar's action film Bloody Daddy, urged audience from the south to 'accept' Hindi films. The actor said that just as the Hindi audience was 'wholeheartedly' accepting their films, the 'Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada audience' should also reciprocate and watch Hindi movies.

Shahid Kapoor played a cricketer in his 2022 film Jersey.

The actor also reflected on Hindi action films, and their comparison to south Indian films such as Ram Charan and Jr NTR's Telugu film RRR, and Yash's KGF: Chapter 1 and 2, originally made in Kannada. Shahid gave the example of Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan's movies to argue that Bollywood has 'made very good action films'.

Shahid Kapoor on Hindi action films

Shahid said in an interview to Bollywood Spy, "I think hamari Hindi actions films slow down iss liye huyi thi kyunki Covid-19 ke time, international travel aur uss tarha ka genre hamare Indian filmmakers pasand karte hain, toh wo abroad shoot karna hi impossible ho gaya tha. To travel was very difficult, toh wo do saal jo gaye hain, unka impact teen-chaar saal chalega (Due to the Covid-19 pandemic our filmmakers were not able to shoot abroad for their big-scale action films, therefore such films were not released for some time)... but otherwise from Hindi cinema's standpoint of action films, our biggest superstars, whether it is Salman Khan or it is Akshay Kumar, or whether it is Aamir Khan in Ghajini, I think we have made very good action films. Hrithik Roshan is very, very good in action, War was fantastic."

Shahid urges south audience to watch Hindi films

He further said in the same interview, "Mujhe nahi lagta we should draw any kinds of lines, and I would say that for even the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada audience, I would say ki aap bhi Hindi films dekho, kyuni Hindi audience toh dil khol ke aapki films accept kar rahi hai. Toh aap bhi hamari films accept karo, toh hi toh cinema grow karega. Toh khula dil hona chahiye, woh acceptance honi chahiye aur har taraf se honi chahiye (There should be no division. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada audience should also accept Hindi cinema the way the Hindi audience has wholeheartedly accepted south Indian films. They should also have a big heart). I feel like everybody should work with each other... everybody should come together to add more value, so more people go to the theatres. But everybody should have the same attitude."

Shahid's recent projects

Shahid Kapoor was last seen in Raj and DK's Prime Video series Farzi. Before that, he featured in the sports-drama Jersey, in which he played the role of a cricketer.

Ahead of the release of his next, Bloody Daddy, a special screening of the film was held in Mumbai on Wednesday. Shahid, who plays the lead role in the film, was pictured arriving at the screening with wife Mira Rajput. Bloody Daddy also features Sanjay Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal and Diana Penty and has been directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. The film will premiere on June 9 on JioCinema.

After Bloody Daddy, Shahid will also be seen in an untitled romantic film with Kriti Sanon.