Aditi Rao Hydari comments on the South vs Bollywood debate

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Aditi Rao Hydari is one of the few actresses who has dabbled in both, the South and Hindi film industries. She has some hit films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages and has had several memorable performances. As a result, Aditi is one of the few artists who can fact fully talk about the South vs Bollywood debate as she has experiences of both sides.

Speaking to ETimes, the Padmaavat actress shared her thoughts on the ongoing row. “We are the Indian film industry. I hope we stop using terms like regional films and South films. We are Indian and we make Indian films. As a country, our strength is our diversity, culture, languages and history; all of it. There is so much to explore. We have a lot to do and a lot to say, this is just the beginning for Indian films,” Aditi said.

She added, “I hope our industry works together to tell our stories to the world. Stories that are honest and authentic, stories that will make the world sit up and pay attention. I hope people with talent and voices of relevance will have smoother journeys to make the films they want to make.”

The Hey Sinamika actress dismissed the competition between Bollywood and the South and claimed that Hollywood does not look at Indian cinema through the lens of North, South, East and West. She promoted that there should not be any regional classifications in the Indian film industry.

“We have to be more aware, learn more by listening watching and absorbing be more grateful for the opportunities and take pride in who we are and push out talent. We have to celebrate ourselves first,” Aditi signed off.