Udhayanidhi Stalin Says Bollywood 'Overshadowing' Regional Films In North India

Tamil Nadu's Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who stirred up a hornet's nest with his remarks on 'Sanatan Dharma' last year, has now claimed that Bollywood's Hindi films are "overshadowing" cinema from languages like Marathi, Gujarati, and other northern states.

Speaking at a literary event in Kozhikode, Kerala, on Saturday, Udhayanidhi said, "Mumbai extensively produces Hindi films now, with Marathi, Bhojpuri, Bihari, Haryanvi, and Gujarati cinema receiving far less attention. Many northern states don't even have their own film industries," as reported by India Today.

The Hindi film industry, or "Bollywood," is based in Mumbai, the country's financial capital. Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, officially recognises Marathi as its state language.

The DMK leader, a former actor-producer of Tamil cinema, went on to note that films in southern languages are "thriving," whereas northern languages, apart from Hindi, are not seeing similar success.

"The Tamil industry now generates billions in revenue. Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada cinema are also thriving. Does any language in the north have an industry as vibrant as ours?" he questioned.

Reflecting on the 1950s, Udhayanidhi explained that Tamil cinema was then "heavily Sanskriticised" and primarily accessible to "the Upper Caste and affluent audiences."

"The Dravidian movement enabled people of all backgrounds to enjoy Tamil cinema," he added.

BJP hits back

Narayanan Thirupathy, Tamil Nadu BJP vice-president, criticised Udhayanidhi, labelling him a "failed actor" and "failed film personality."

"He speaks like that because of his immaturity and lack of knowledge... they are trying to divide the country. His own production company is taking Hindi versions of Tamil films and making huge money. To make money, they want Hindi, and to be in power, they don't want people to learn Hindi," Thirupathy remarked.