Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar spoke about South Indian films performing better than Hindi films at the box office recently. During the trailer launch event of his upcoming film ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’, Karan responded to a question on why he addressed the trailer as a “Hindi film trailer”. Lauding the business done by superhits ‘RRR’, ‘KGF Chapter 2’, and ‘Pushpa’, KJo said the directors of these films “told us how big our standard can be.”
He also praised Alia Bhatt’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, and Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ for doing “solid business”. He said, “We can proudly say that we are a part of Indian cinema. When the business of ‘RRR’, ‘KGF’, and ‘Pushpa’ did so well, we can say that it is Indian cinema. We are proud of all those films, we are proud of Indian cinema. They have raised the bar of Indian cinema. Prashanth Neel, SS Rajamouli, Sukumar and ‘KGF’ all that has completely told us how big our standard can be and how far we can reach.”
He also said, “When we specified Hindi, it is really a function of technicality. ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ has done the solid business well last week, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ has done a solid opening. We hope and wish that ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’ also becomes a part of that list. We also want that films made in every language should work and so should our films.”
When asked if he didn't believe in competition between the north and south films, Karan responded, “Not at all. Many years ago, I presented Bahubali. I have that huge faith in the power of cinema. There is no competition in the same industry, how can there be? We grow together.”
He added, “We have to be one collective unit. Rajamouli sir has said that many times, we should be one cinema. The best cross-over is the cross-over that happened recently is that when the South has done such expansive business in the north. That is crossover. Going to any festival, winning an Oscar doesn't matter to us. We want to grow as Indian cinema and that has been proven time and again.”
The trailer of ‘JugJugg Jeeyo’ was unveiled by Dharma Productions on Sunday. The film's star cast includes Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Maniesh Paul, Neetu Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Prajakta Koli. The film is set to release on June 24.
