Nani Responds to Salman Khan’s Remarks About Bollywood’s Popularity In South: 'Bina Chale Kaise Superstar Ban Gaye?'

Actor Nani has weighed in on Salman Khan’s recent comments about the South Indian audience’s reception to Bollywood films. Nani talked about the deep-rooted connection South audiences have always had with Hindi cinema.

Actor Nani has weighed in on Salman Khan’s recent comments about the South Indian audience’s reception to Bollywood films. During promotions for his film 'Sikandar', Salman Khan had commented that while South Indian films enjoy a massive fan base among Hindi-speaking audiences, the same cannot be said for Bollywood films in the South. Nani, however, offered a different perspective in a recent interview talking about the deep-rooted connection South audiences have always had with Hindi cinema.

About the love Bollywood has got in South

In a conversation with DNA India, Nani said, “That (Hindi cinema) is original; this (South cinema) came later. The love South cinema is receiving now is recent. But the love Bollywood has received in the South has been there for decades. If you ask anyone there, ‘What’s your favourite Hindi film?’, they will have childhood memories of Amitabh Bachchan. They’ll talk about so many films. We always watched Hindi films — Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil Toh Pagal Hai were blockbusters in Hyderabad and other southern states. Everyone is now lapping up South films, but Hindi cinema was always embraced across the country.”

Nani says Salman Khan is loved in South India

Directly addressing Salman’s observation, Nani added with a smile, “Nahi, waha nahi chale? Bina chale kaise superstar ban gaye? 100% chalti hai, and we all love him. We’ve all watched so many of Salman’s films. Movies like 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!' hold cultural importance there. 'Didi Tera Devar Deewana' and other songs — we used to play them at our weddings.”

What Salman Khan had said

During Sikandar promotions, Salman had said, “When my film is released there, it doesn’t get the numbers because their fan following is very strong. I’ll walk on the street, and they’ll say, ‘Bhai, Bhai’, but they won’t go to the theatres. The way we’ve accepted them here hasn’t happened there. Their films do well because we go and see them — like those of Rajinikanth sir, Chiranjeevi garu, Suriya or Ram Charan. But their fans don’t go to see our films,” he had said.

Meanwhile, Nani is preparing for the release of his next film 'HIT: The Third Case', an action thriller directed by Sailesh Kolanu. The film features KGF actress Srinidhi Shetty opposite Nani, with a strong supporting cast that includes Adil Pala, Rao Ramesh, Brahmaji, and Maganti Srinath. The movie is scheduled to release in theatres on May 1.