Rohit Shetty makes impassioned defense for Bollywood amid North vs South debate: 'One bad year and you turn your back on us?'

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty has all things to celebrate. His directorial Cirkus has released in theatres. Recently, him and Cirkus lead star Ranveer Singh were in attendance at a media conclave with Lallantop where they were asked if the Hindi films have lost it's magic.

Rohit reflected on the Hindi and South film industry, Rohit Shetty said that even South movies have suffered back to back flops and given few hits only this year. "Pichle 2 saal se hum pandemic se guzre hai. Humari jitni bhi badi filmein hai woh shuru nahi hui, ya bann nahi payi. Joh filmein release hui waha (South) se, woh pehle se bann chuki hai. Humari pehli Sooryavanshi aayi. Phir saal ki shuruwaat mein The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Drishyam 2, aur Gangubai Kathiawadi aayi, and they all did fabulous business. Toh aisa nahi hai ki humari filmein nahi chal rahi hai (“For the last two years, we’ve been fighting a pandemic. Many of our big films couldn’t get on the floors, or weren’t made at all. The big films that did come out had already been completed. Sooryavanshi was released, and at the beginning of this year, films like The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 worked well. Drishyam 2 has done well recently. It’s not like our films aren’t working. Gangubai Kathiawadi did really well.”).

He further addressed, “You will name six films from the south that have worked, and I have named six Bollywood films that have worked. The grass is always greener on the other side… Pathaan is coming, Tiger is coming, Rajkumar Hirani’s film is coming, Singham is coming, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new film with Ranveer Singh is coming. We’ve entertained you for so many years, one bad year and you turn your back on us?”

Shetty said, “You’ve been watching the films of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn. You must have seen Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Sholay, Khiladi. You must have seen Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Maine Pyaar Kiya, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. You also must have seen Singham and Sooryavanshi, Golmaal and Munna Bhai, Hera Pheri and Mother India, Mughal-e-Azam… One bad year and you’re turning your back? We made these films. Don’t take offence, but jahaaz mein jab chhed hota hai, choohe sabse pehle bhagte hain (rats run first when there’s a hole in the ship). We won’t let this ship sink, we’ll make it soar.”

Cirkus starring Ranveer Singh, Pooja Hegde, Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Sharma among others has released on December 23, 2022.

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