Karan Johar: South films like RRR and KGF have raised the bar for Indian cinema, showed we can reach further

Celebrities across film industries have been weighing in on the ongoing north vs south film debate that kicked off earlier this year with movies such as Allu Arjun’s Pushpa, SS Rajamouli’s RRR and Yash’s KGF: Chapter 2 becoming blockbusters and earning higher than their Bollywood counterparts, even in the Hindi belt. The most recent filmmaker to give his twopence worth to the debate is Karan Johar, who had backed these films.

Karan said that the three South films “have raised the bar for Indian cinema” at a media interaction during the launch of his latest production Jugjugg Jeeyo, which has Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor as part of the cast.

“These films have told us that our standards can be so massive and we can reach so far ahead,” he said. The filmmaker also pointed out that he is aware that the upcoming Varun-starrer releases at a time when few Bollywood films have created any kind of stir at the box office.

Gangubai Kathiawadi, The Kashmir Files and lately Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 are arguably the only three films since the pandemic to have gone on to create an impact at the box office. While the filmmaker said he hopes Jugjugg Jeeyo also joins the list, he brushed aside opinions of any kind of competition between South and North cinema.

“We grow together. To compete would be completely not servicing the requirements of entertainment in the industry,” he said, pointing out that Rajamouli had repeatedly said that “we should be one cinema”.

Karan recently joined hands with Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran to co-produce the Bollywood remake of Driving Licence, Selfiee, which has Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi in the lead. He also said that “the biggest crossover” happened when South film began doing massive business in the north.