Dibakar Banerjee shared his opinion on why the Hindi film industry is lagging behind South Indian film industries in a recent interview. The director, who is known for his films such as Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Shanghai, said that to “make money” Hindi films are “so out of touch” with their roots. Whereas the South Indian industry has invested in “local stories”.

South Indian film industry has impacted Bollywood

In an interview with Honestly Saying Podcast, Dibakar was asked if the South cinema has impacted the way Bollywood has made films in the last four years. To this, the director replied that it is not an issue of four years but over a decade-long issue. They have come up with a new interpretation of old superstars and have invested in subversion in the “superstar genre”. Adding to it, he said, “The independent film industry, let’s say, the Kerala film industry, has kept the vibe because they have kept theatrical alive. They have not let their budgets get bogged down by astronomical star fees. They have also been intelligent about trying to increase the number of theatres.”
 

We remake a Marathi film mounted on a low budget: Dibakar Banerjee

Another difference between South cinema and Bollywood the director suggested is the former invest in local stories, whereas Bollywood filmmakers don’t even know how to read Hindi or other regional languages. Including himself, the director added that “powerful filmmakers” in Bollywood read English novels and crossword bestsellers and are unaware of Gujarati stories or stories of our roots. “A Marathi filmmaker mounts a film on a low budget, and then we remake that and make money. Our ability to jump into our own stories is reducing, so South is definitely ahead of us,” the director concluded.

Who is Dibakar Banerjee?

Dibakar is a director, screenwriter, producer and advertisement-filmmaker known for making National Award movies such as Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008). He has also directed movies such as Shanghai (2012), Bombay Talkies (2013), and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).