Karan Johar and Vijay Devarakonda discussed the Bollywood vs South Cinema debate; Know what both of them said

At the ongoing World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (Waves) in Mumbai, one of the most discussed sessions discussed timely discussion on the alleged partition between South Indian cinema and Bollywood. The conversation brought filmmakers Karan Johar, actors Vijay Devarakonda and Kareena Kapoor Khan together, and quickly turned into a strong call for unity in Indian film industries.

Moderating the session, Karan Johar addressed a long -standing comparison between two regional industries and said, “I am confident that Vijay, you come from a cinema, which is really a royal and it’s a different debate: South Cinema is superior to Hindi cinema. I think I divide us.” His comment laid the foundation of a large point – cinema in India should not be seen through regional borders lenses.

He continued, emphasizing the importance of a united identity in cinema. “We really have to believe that it is Indian cinema. We are all Indian cinema. We are not north, we are not south, we are making collective cinema which is,” he said. Karan also took a moment to criticize the role of the media in fueling such divisions, urged him to avoid framing questions against one industry in a pit against another. According to him, “When you divide us, you break us.”

Vijay Devarakonda, who represented the Telugu film industry, replied thinkingly, agreed that the debate does not add value to the craft. He said, “I think south-north debate can be interesting for the headlines but not very productive for cinema.” For him, future lies in cooperation, not comparison. He insisted that the way Indian cinema can compete with global giants is by joining the forces and expanding the reach of their stories.

He recently pointed to the box office hits, so that he could take his point home: “Shah Rukh Khan Sir’s last film made a film of Rs 1000 crore and then Allu Arjun’s film made Rs 1000 crore. So if you bring him together in a film, just imagine.” Vijay believes that such cooperation can unite the audience across the country and create a major cultural effects.

Kareena Kapoor Khan expressed her enthusiasm for the idea, and Karan reminded the upcoming high-profile cooperation panel in War 2, which included Junior NTR, Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani. He said, “This is not only branding or sequel, but look at Star Power … it’s too big.” For release on August 15, the film is being seen as an example of cross-industry partnership.