Naga Vamsi says south makers 'think twice before making good films', calls money more important, Boney Kapoor chides him

Naga Vamsi criticised south cinema, saying that they prioritise money over making good films or experimental cinema.

Producer Naga Vamsi has waded into controversy yet again, this time for pointing out some apparent flaws of his own industry. The filmmaker, who clashed with fellow producer Boney Kapoor recently, has now said that filmmakers like him in the South 'think twice before making good films' as 'money is more important'. (

Naga Vamsi on south cinema

Naga Vamsi opened up on the importance of money over content.

On Galatta Plus' roundtable for producers, Naga Vamsi, who has made films like DJ Tillu and Jersey, admitted that profits outweigh the quality of films for him. “We always have second thoughts about making risky films with an unconventional subject. We consider the kind of money it will earn through OTT before we take the theatre risk. After all the calculations, we think twice before making good films. We only make movies that make money. Our main criteria is that the theatres need to be filled,” he said.

Boney Kapoor, who was part of the same panel, disagreed with this thought process. He first gave an example of Rajkummar Rao finding success through unconventional comedy films (such as Stree 2) and said that Nag Ashwin did the same down south. “When Ashwini Dutt and Nag Ashwin made this comedy film with newcomers, Jathi Rathnalu, he probably made more money with that film than he probably ever made. Of course, before Kalki (2989 AD). Similarly, in Hindi, Rajkummar Rao became a known face with films that never had that kind of budget or that kind of push,” he said.

Naga Vamsi and Boney Kapoor had tussled earlier in the same discussion when the south filmmaker criticised Hindi filmmakers for making cinema only for 'people from Bandra and Juhu'. Boney Kapoor objected and said that Hindi cinema has been making mass films since Mughal-e-Azam and Sholay. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta was also offended by Naga Vamsi's statement and tone, taking to X (formerly Twitter) and calling him disrespectful towards Boney. Naga Vamsi later clarified that there was no disrespect and that Boney and he hugged it out after the panel ended.