South films are not progressing, don't experiment: Rakesh Roshan
Referring to success of south films like 'Pushpa-2', veteran director Rakesh Roshan felt south films don't experiment while Hindi cinema does and loses money;
In 2024, south films like 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' stormed the box-office grossing over ₹1,831 crore globally making it the highest grosser in Indian cinema.
Last year, Hindi cinema limped along at the box-office, its collections seeing a decline by 13 per cent to ₹4,679 crore in 2024 from ₹5,380 crore in 2023. Their overall contribution to India box-office collections dipped to 40 per cent in 2024 compared to 44 per cent in 2023. Regional cinema, and south films fared better.
However, veteran filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, had his own unique take on the reason for the success of south Indian films.
Also read: Kanu Behl interview: ‘Films like Pushpa are morphine to the masses, anti-healing’
Old-school format
The actor turned successful director while admitting that south films are very “grounded” felt they use the "old-school format" of concentrating on song-action-dialogue and emotions.
“They’re not progressing. They are successful because they are not breaking any path,” he said in an interview to Times Now.
But, in his view, Hindi cinema is “breaking paths”. The director, who made hits like 'Karan Arjun', said after he made 'Kaho Naa, Pyaar Hai', in which he launched his son Hrithik Roshan, he did not want to make romantic films anymore.
“Then I did Koi Mil Gaya,” he pointed out, adding that after that, he made Rohit (Hrithik Roshan’s character in 'Koi Mil Gaya') a superhero.
Rakesh Roshan felt that these are the “challenges” they took. But in his view, south Indian films don’t take challenges and play on “safe grounds”. Further, he said that it is because Hindi cinema experiments they are not making money at the box-office.
Also read: Pushpa 2 becomes highest-grossing film in India, dethrones Baahubali 2
Not informed
However, Rakesh Roshan faced a lot of flak for his “ill-informed” opinions from Reddit users.
They slammed the director’s remarks saying he only follows popular cinema and is not aware of the experimental films coming out of south India.
They even listed out some of the out-of-the-box south films, which were successful.
A documentary on the successful Roshan family is all set to stream on Netflix from January 17.