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Harman Baweja, actor-turned-producer, recently spoke to Mid-Day about the ongoing debate between Bollywood and South cinema. He said that the constant comparison between these two industries is misleading. At the end of the day, it's the Indian film industry, he said. That's what it is. He also spoke about why Hindi films are costlier than their South Indian counterparts. Baweja acknowledged the success of South Indian films like Pushpa, KGF 2, and RRR but warned against generalizing their achievements. Of course, there are South films that have done brilliantly pan-India, he said. But if you really sit down and count, there are maybe four or five that make it big in Hindi each year. He added that every industry faces its own challenges and constantly tries to break out - that's just the nature of the business. The conversation soon turned to budgets, especially how South filmmakers seem to create cinematic spectacles at a fraction of Bollywood's cost. Baweja feels this narrative oversimplifies the equation. Yes, there's talk about entourage costs in Hindi cinema, he said. But that alone doesn't inflate the budget. It adds to it, sure, but it's not the singular factor. Baweja emphasized the importance of context in understanding film budgets. The Malayalam industry has always been about content first - less about histrionics, he said. Telugu films, on the other hand, are grand and larger than life, so naturally they're more expensive. He added that when you consider the genre and storytelling style, the comparison becomes more balanced. Baweja cited examples to support his argument. He mentioned that the blockbuster hit Hindi film Saiyaara was made in the same budget range as Lokah, a Malayalam superhero film made for ₹30 crore. When you factor in the genre and storytelling style, the comparison becomes more balanced. So the idea that we can't make effective, mid-budget films in Hindi just isn't true. Baweja believes the issue isn't competition but perspective. We all look around and try to understand what others are doing better- and that's healthy, he said. But sometimes, the comparisons get too intense and not really apples to apples. His larger takeaway is one of unity rather than rivalry. Every region is contributing something incredible to cinema, he reflected. It's time we stop dividing it as Bollywood or South and start calling it what it truly is- Indian cinema.
