At the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES), leading voices from the film industry came together to address the long-standing debate of South cinema vs Hindi cinema.
Filmmaker Karan Johar, moderating a panel with actors Vijay Deverakonda and Kareena Kapoor Khan, called for unity and rejected the narrative that South Indian films are superior to Bollywood.
Addressing the actor, Karan said, “I do believe Vijay, you come from a cinema which is truly majestic, and that is, of course, a separate debate: Is South cinema superior to Hindi cinema. I think that divides us. We truly have to believe that it is Indian cinema. We are all Indian cinema. We are not North, we are not South, we are collectively making cinema what it is. I think that’s most important that we don’t divide. I always say this, and I request Indian media that when you ask this, you are actually dividing us. And when you divide us, you break us.”
Vijay Deverakonda, responding to the question, agreed:
“This South-North debate may make good headlines, but it’s not productive. If we want to compete globally, we need to collaborate, not compete.”
He cited examples of Shah Rukh Khan’s and Allu Arjun’s ₹1000 crore blockbusters and imagined the potential of combining such star power in one film.
“Uniting Indian stars can unite the country and expand our reach globally,” Vijay added.
Kareena Kapoor, visibly excited at the thought, nodded in agreement, while Karan mentioned an upcoming mega-collaboration:
“The Hrithik Roshan-Jr NTR-Kiara Advani starrer ‘War 2’ hits screens this August 15. It’s a massive pan-India film — and proof that the industry is already moving toward powerful collaborations.”
The discussion was a highlight of day two of WAVES, marking a powerful message from some of Indian cinema’s biggest names — focus on unity, not regional divisions.
