When Yash's 'India has arrived' perspective made huge difference to Bollywood vs South debate - Watch

Yash and Prashanth Neel’s KGF and KGF 2 gave the Kannada film industry a pan-India recognition. A couple of years ago after the restrictions for the cinema hall post-Corona pandemic started to relax, South Indian movies such as Pushpa: The Rise, KGF 2, RRR, and Kantara created a storm at the box office.

Importantly, most of these movies received pan-India success which was not expected. On the other hand, big Bollywood movies of superstars like Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan failed to lure the audience. That is when a debate that the South Indian film industry will soon take over Bollywood and that Southern movies are much better than Hindi cinema gained momentum.

Even celebrities from Bollywood appreciated how the South Indian movies are rooted in their culture whereas B-town flicks are more inclined towards showing Western culture. So when an interview session was held with Yash by a leading Bollywood media portal in Bengaluru in front of the audience it was expected that the Sandalwood superstar would share his views.

He said that one KGF will not be able to change people’s outlook towards Kannada film industry. That is why he said that Kantara is my film. He named many other Kannada movies that have been very good and should gain National recognition. Yash said, “There was a time when 7 players from Kannada were in the Indian cricket team. That should happen to the Indian industry. Every actor and director from my industry should become a pan India star.”

Yash believes that Baahubali made a big difference

Yash credited Rajamouli for directing Baahubali and making it a pan-India superhit. The superstar said, “We should try to stop hypocrisy. A lot of people try to polarize the industry saying our industry, this industry. No, it will never happen like that. We should not get into this trap. We should respect every other person who is doing a great film. Every other industry. Go compete. Just not be jealous and say we are good.”

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The superstar added, “I expect from my fans, especially from Karnataka, I don’t want them to put any other industry down. I do not want to say we are bigger and they are smaller. We worked hard to get that respect. After that, we cannot mistreat them. Respect Bollywood, forget North and South. Don’t do that.”

Yash said that Bollywood is going through a phase and they have taught us a lot. According to him, the aim should be to compete with the rest of the world. Instead, he said that this generation should compete with the rest of the world and say, “India has arrived.”