Siddharth corrects Boney Kapoor after he calls Jr NTR a ‘new face’: ‘You are talking about the biggest superstar’

In a recent roundtable, Boney Kapoor took Jr NTR's name while citing an example of ‘new faces’ being accepted in Bollywood if a film is good.

Producer Boney Kapoor and actor Siddharth recently debated at a round table if it’s truly just about ‘good cinema’ over star power when it comes to a film’s success. Talking to Galatta India while making a point, Boney cited Jr NTR as an example of a ‘new face’ only to be corrected by Siddharth and producer Naga Vamsi. (Also Read: Naga Vamsi says he wasn't disrespectful towards Boney Kapoor: ‘Don't need to teach us how to respect elders')

Jr NTR gained fame worldwide with SS Rajamouli's RRR.

Siddharth corrects Boney Kapoor

Boney, while discussing how good cinema was always accepted country-wide irrespective of the language, cited the 1981 film Ek Duuje Ke Liye as an example. When Siddharth asked if something like that could happen today, given that director K Balachander and actor Kamal Haasan, while popular down south, were relatively unknown to the north audience, Boney spoke about Jr NTR.

When Siddharth asked if a ‘new face’ and ‘new director’ would be accepted like that in the north today, Boney replied, “Yes, why has Adi(tya) Chopra taken Tarak (Jr NTR) for his film (War 2)?” Vamsi quickly laughed and corrected him that Jr NTR wasn’t a ‘new face’. At the same time, Siddharth chimed in, “You are talking about the biggest superstar of this (south) industry working with the biggest superstar (Hrithik Roshan) of this (north) industry, working with the biggest producer in India.”

Even as Boney tried to press his point further, Siddharth claimed that Ek Duuje Ke Liye ran for a year in theatres but that ‘no films are allowed to run for that long’ now. Boney told Siddharth that while he ‘appreciated’ his take, he still believes good cinema will always prevail. Incidentally, Boney’s daughter, actor Janhvi Kapoor, debuted down south in 2024 with the Jr NTR-starrer Devara: Part 1.

The roundtable has been a source of contention since it was released, with filmmakers Sanjay Gupta and Hansal Mehta, along with numerous others, believing Vamsi disrespected Boney in the interview.

Recent work

Siddharth was last seen in Indian 2 and Miss You in 2024; both films failed to make a mark at the box office. In 2023, he produced and starred in a film called Chithha that won accolades. He will soon star in Test and Indian 3. Boney recently produced Maidaan. Jr NTR will star in Ayan Mukerji's War 2, apart from a yet-to-be-titled film by Prashanth Neel.