Is It North Vs South In The Hindi Film Industry Too?

There was a time in the eighties when South Indian stars like Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth tried their luck in Bollywood – they bought a house in Mumbai and learnt Hindi too. But, sadly they could not survive because of Bollywood politics; they were bullied and finally went back to Chennai. Maybe the producers were not willing to take risks because of their south Indian accent, skin tone and average height. But not anymore. Today, South stars like Ram Charan, NTR Jr, Allu Arjun are bigger than the Khans; their fan base is bigger than all the three khans put together. Most stars from the south are money making machines. Reacting to the way Shah Rukh Khan said “Idli Ram Charan” at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant pre-wedding celebration at Jamnagar, a Bollywood insider said, “Ram Charan does not dance to anybody’s tune and nobody dares address him the way Shah Rukh Khan did…”  Ram’s associate Zeba found it insulting and expressed her displeasure by walking out. On the contrary, Ram Charan did not react negatively, he was cool. But the fans of Ram Charan have been trolling King Khan. Today, the tables have turned, south actors are not desperate to shift lock, stock and barrel to Mumbai. They are signing up films on their terms which is breaking records in the Hindi belt. Surely, SRK who is always politically right and measured in his talks must have said it in a lighter vein but this seems to have not gone well with South Indian audiences.