New Delhi: Rani Mukerji recently became the centre of a controversy after she defended Indian cinema as the industry which 'makes the best films in the world' against an idea that Iranian cinema is doing great. During a roundtable interaction with Galatta Plus, Rani made the mentioned remark in response to filmmaker Prithvi Konanur, who said that Iranian cinema was better than Indian films as far as ideas go.
Prithvi Konanur spoke about his views on Iranian vs Indian films at the roundtable conference. He said, "I ask people to watch Iranian films. Watch them. You can see a vast difference between our films and their films. I feel we are, for some reason, actually far behind Iranian cinema. This is an honest opinion. I request people to watch Iranian films and see how advanced they are in terms of ideas, maybe not in terms of technology, but in terms of ideas where they are."
Soon after, Rani Mukerji interjected and said, "So I would like to say something here because I am a little offended when he says that we should learn from other people's cinema. I do believe that Indian cinema is the best in the world, so I would not agree with that. I am really sorry because if you want to talk about films that come from the roots, I think you must watch 12th Fail. It is a brilliant film made by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and it talks about India... everything is very brilliantly shown... I feel that we in India make the most diverse films. When you talk about films from outside India, they don't have the diversity that India has. I believe Indian cinema has a lot to offer and actually are the best in the world... I would not want to compare Indian cinema with any other cinema in the world because we have the truest stories, most grounded stories…"
Soon after the interview went online, several clips from the mentioned portion began circulating on social media platforms like X. A user wrote, "India makes the best films in the world - Rani Mukerji. Do you agree?"
Another user wrote. "Haven't seen many Iranian films but pretty sure none of the acclaimed ones featured the protagonist in brownface the entire time to look 'poor' the way 12th Fail did. Rani's take is as garbage as it gets, and Karan Johar next to her (during the roundtable) loved Animal. Sums up the airheads running Bollywood."
This is what happens when people don't watch enough movies from outside their country. Not a single point Rani Mukerji said makes sense." Another tweet read.
While a person also wrote, "The truly hilarious thing about that Rani Mukerji quote from the roundtable is that her prime example was Satyajit Ray, a man who had nothing but contempt for the kind of Indian cinema Rani makes (laughing emoji)."
A person also countered Rani's argument and said, "We do make all kinds of films but that’s not to say we’re the best in the world. If what Rani says is true, why do our films struggle to find a spot in the international circuits? Most of our films are subpar and banal."