The success of southern films in the Hindi belt has raised questions about Bollywood’s dominance among India’s film industries. For a long time, Hindi films have surpassed so-called “regional language” films, with a few exceptions. But since late 2021, when South Indian films like Pushpa: The Rise, RRR, KGF: Chapter 2 and Vikram banged up box office cash, Hindi films have largely failed. In a new interview, filmmaker Karan Johar has explained why Bollywood is lagging behind. Read also : Ranbir Kapoor urged Karan Johar not to invite him on Koffee with Karan: ‘I should pay the price for too long’

pushpa won ₹365 crore, while Vikram also crossed the ₹Mark of 300 crores at the box office. RRR and KGF 2, on the other hand, yielded more than ₹1000 crore worldwide. By comparison, only one Hindi film has crossed the 300 crore mark in 2022, so far – The Kashmir Files with global revenues of ₹340 crores. Many other Hindi movies with big stars – like Samrat Prithviraj, Jersey and Runway 34 – failed to even make the leap. ₹Mark of 100 crores at the box office.

Speaking to Film Companion, Karan Johar explained that Hindi cinema has fallen victim to things like paid public relations and herd mentality. “I think we are victims of everything we should be running away from, whether it’s paid public relations or media blitz, projections, perceptions, all of that. It’s the plague. I also think we lack conviction. We are victims of herd mentality,” he said.

Karan said southern filmmakers have a conviction when it comes to their work, which Hindi filmmakers today lack. He added, “Tamil cinema and Malayalam cinema have always been rich in stories. They have also been commercial and aesthetic. What happened with Kannada cinema and now Kannada cinema with KGF is that they have a lot of conviction. They don’t listen to anything else and follow that belief. They don’t seek validation, acceptance, approval. They are so confident in themselves and in what they are doing. That’s what we all miss. We don’t have that belief. So if the biopics do well, everyone will make a biopic. Suddenly everyone has woken up to the syntax of southern cinema and now we want to start doing it. We are all so stupidly skeptical of our strengths and weaknesses that we tend to be all over the place. ”

Karan directs Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, which stars Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. The film sees his return to directing after almost six years. Also starring Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi, the film is set to release on February 10, 2023.