Pawan Kalyan bats for Bollywood in debate about South representing culture well; says this about Aamir Khan's Dangal

Pawan Kalyan recently spoke about the current status of Indian cinema and what he thinks about Bollywood.

Deputy CM of Andhra Pradesh and actor Pawan Kalyan gave his take on the narrative that south Indian cinema represents Indian culture better than Bollywood. In an interview with Organiser Weekly, he was asked to give his opinion on the topic, and here’s what he said. (Also Read: Nagarjuna doesn't believe in narrative of south films doing better than Hindi: ‘It can't be fantastic all the time’)

Pawan Kalyan said Aamir Khan's Dangal did a good job of representing Indian culture.

Pawan Kalyan on south cinema and Bollywood

Pawan began by saying that he sees the Indian film industry as one, particularly by the name Bharatiya Chitra Parishrama. He then spoke of how Bollywood went from being rooted to treating culturally-rooted characters with ‘mockery’. He said, “I think each film industry has its own unique strength. So, we cannot say south is representing it more. Maybe, in the later stage, it depended on particular filmmakers who got influenced by globalisation (in Bollywood). Culturally-leaned characters began to be treated with an inch of bufoonery. There are certain issues there, no doubt, but that’s not the major narrative.”

He then spoke of how Bollywood is still the film industry that delivered films like Dangal, but that their priorities have changed with time. “If you see Dangal by Mr Aamir Khan, it represents our culture. It’s rooted in Haryana and is part and parcel of our country. But when money comes into play, they have lost that connect with the native audience. Urbanisation is less in the south, and the major marketing is still for the rural audience. It is not about Hinduism or Islam, it’s about the culture of our country that’s resonating with the West,” he said. 

Recent work

In June last year, Pawan was sworn in as the Deputy CM of AP after his Jana Sena Party helped win the elections for TDP in coalition with BJP. He has since tried to complete films he signed before campaigning for the elections. Krish and Jyothi Krishna’s Hari Hara Veera Mallu, Sujeeth’s They Call Him OG and Harish Shankar’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh are lined up.