Mumbai: ‘Sikandar’ actor Salman Khan, while promoting his upcoming film, opened up on why Hindi films fail to do pan-India business.
While people from the Hindi belt watch South films in theatres, the same cannot be said about the South audience as it is yet to accept Bollywood actors, according to Salman.
“If my film is released there, it will not get the numbers because the fan following of South stars is very strong. They will give me a shout out, ‘Bhai, Bhai’ when I walk on the streets, but 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,” Salman said while talking about Bollywood films’ inability to perform well in South.
When asked why Bollywood is not casting South stars in Hindi films to win over the South audience, Salman said right script is needed for such collaborations But the biggest hurdle, he 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).”
Helmed by Nitesh Tiwari, ‘Ramayana’ stars Ranbir Kapoor, Kannada superstar Yash and Telugu actress Sai Pallavi in lead roles.
Urging the audiences to watch ‘Sikandar’ in theatres, Salman said, “I hope people earn 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.”
Besides Sharman Joshi, ‘Sikandar’ also features South actors Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal and Sathyaraj. The film will hit theatres on May 30, on the occasion of Eid.
