We watch Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi films, but their fans don't see ours: Salman Khan on why Bollywood can't go pan-India

Salman Khan opened up about Hindi films' inability to do pan-India business like Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films such as Baahubali, 2.0, and KGF.

The term pan-India came into use in the film lexicon of India after Baahubali's monumental success. It was taken to denote films that have marketability all across the country, crossing language barriers. In the 10 years since Baahubali, the term has largely been used only for south films crossing over into the Hindi belt and never the other way around. Actor Salman Khan feels that it is because Hindi films hardly have a market in the south, and audiences don't want to watch Bollywood films in theatres. (

Salman Khan and Chiranjeevi worked together in the 2023 Telugu film, Godfather.

Salman Khan on Bollwood going pan-India

On Wednesday, while promoting his new film, Sikandar, Salman spoke to the media at a Mumbai hotel. Talking about Bollywood films' inability to cross over into the South, he said, "When my film is released there, it will not get the numbers because their fan following is very strong. I'll walk on the street, and they will say, 'Bhai, Bhai', but they will not go to the theatres. The way we've accepted them here that hasn't happened there. Their films do well because we go and see them, like those of Rajinikanth sir or Chiranjeevi garu or Suriya or Ram Charan. But their fans do not go and see our films."

The actor was then quizzed on why Bollywood is not casting south stars in Hindi films in order to market those films in the south territories. "The right script is needed for such a collaboration to happen, he said. But the biggest hurdle, Salman admitted, is the budgetary constraints. "The thing is money... They also charge, and we also charge. To make a film like this, it is a big responsibility. You need to have a script like that. For instance, in a film like Ramayana, they can cast everyone from here and there (south)." Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor along with Kannada superstar Yash and Telugu actor Sai Pallavi in the lead roles.

About Sikandar

Sikandar, Salman's next release, also stars Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sathyaraj, and Sharman Joshi. The film will be releasing in theatres on May 30, coinciding with Eid.

Salman urged the audiences to come to the theatres to watch Sikandar, as well as the other releases this week. "I am hoping people working get good bonuses on Eid so that they can watch Sikandar, Mohanlal sir's L2: Empuraan, and also Sunny Deol's new film (Jaat). Three big stars are coming with big films and I hope all work," he added.