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Anurag Kashyap blames Bollywood for ignoring Hindi audiences, allowing South films to dominate and reshape the market.
Gangs Of Wasseypur director Anurag Kashyap recently revealed he is moving out of Mumbai and going to South.
Producer Naga Vamsi’s comments about South Indian cinema reshaping Bollywood’s approach have reignited discussions on social media. Adding to the debate, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap recently shared his perspective, critiquing Bollywood for collectively neglecting its core Hindi-speaking audience. Kashyap cited the mishandling of his iconic films Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz as examples of Bollywood’s disconnect, explaining how this negligence created opportunities for South Indian cinema to dominate.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kashyap revealed, “Our audience was ignored collectively. For example, during Covid, I found out that my two films – Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz – which now have a very core audience in North India, weren’t released in North India. I found out, during a distribution meeting, that my North Indian films weren’t released across North India because the studio decided that my core audience is in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Hyderabad and that’s it. That’s how dumb they are.”
Kashyap also highlighted an incident involving a theatre owner in Bihar. “A theatre owner from Bihar told me that he was begging Eros (production house) to release the film in his theatre, but they refused because it takes money to make one more DCP (Digital Cinema Package) and they thought it’s not worth the cost for that market.”
The filmmaker delved deeper into how South films have captured the North Indian market, noting that even dubbed versions have garnered massive success. “We make Hindi films but we have ignored the Hindi film audience. The advantage was taken by this man who created the YouTube channel Goldmines, where he started picking films from the South at cheap rates, dubbed them, and started catering to that Hindi audience. And that audience got built so much that Pushpa 2’s trailer was released in Patna,” Kashyap stated.
This shift in audience preference has dramatically altered the dynamics of Indian cinema. Kashyap observed that the North Indian audience, once loyal to Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, and Salman Khan, now embraces South Indian stars.
