Actor Gulshan Devaiah, who has received praise for portraying the menacing King Kulashekhara in Rishab Shetty's Kantara Chapter 1, has weighed in on the raging debate the South vs Bollywood in an exclusive chat with NDTV. The conversation has become more pertinent at a time when films like Kalki 2898 AD, Pushpa: The Rule, Coolie, and Kantara: Chapter 1 continue to make a mark in the Hindi belt of India, where as the big-budget Hindi projects with star-driven marketing are falling flat.
According to Ormax data, regional films (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam) have steadily gained market share, while original Hindi-language films have seen significant declines. In 2024, the total Indian box office touched nearly Rs 11,833 crore, but Hindi films' share dropped from about Rs 5,380 crore in 2023 to Rs 4,679 crore in 2024. If you exclude dubbed South films, original Hindi films saw a steep 37% decline in collections.
NDTV asked Gulshan Devaiah why the South is racing ahead of Bollywood in recent times.
"Some films are doing well. I've done only one film in Kannada, so I don't have much experience working in the southern industries," Gulshan tells NDTV.
"But I know how Rishabh [Shetty] cast this film. He cast this film, he didn't package the film. I know for sure that in the Hindi film industry, a lot of films are packaged, actors are not cast as per requirement. I feel that makes a huge difference," Devaiah shares.
He explained in Bollywood, projects are often arranged to suit a star profile more than character-driven casting. "Sometimes the project looks really great, let's get these people because they have a certain profile but does the director think that they are the best for that particular character?" he says.
Citing an example from Force (2011), Devaiah tried to establish his point, "They auditioned me for some other part. I said, I won't audition for this, I want to audition for the antagonist part because I had seen Kaakha Kaakha, the original Tamil film. I thought that antagonist part was crazy. I did a great job. I didn't get the part, obviously, because I cannot be suitable for that part at all. Because there was a certain physicality, a certain physical ability, an ability to perform. A certain wave was required, which only Vidyut (Jammwal) could have done. Between me and Vidyut, only he could have done. That's casting. He is rightly cast, I would be wrongly cast. Unless the part was written differently. "
Ironically, it's that very principle of right casting that has made Kantara: Chapter 1 soar. In Rishab Shetty's blockbuster, now among India's top-grossing films with over Rs 450 crore in India alone.
Because when the character fits, the story hits.
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