Who’d have thought 2024 would be the year when the ‘Indian cinema’ bubble starts bursting in the seams? In a year when Pushpa 2: The Rule, a Telugu film, became the highest grossing Hindi film in India… ever, there were feathers bound to be ruffled. And the first steps of it happened at a Galatta Plus roundtable when Telugu producer Naga Vamsi asserted to Boney Kapoor that it is time Hindi cinema moves away from ‘Bandra and Juhu’ and how ‘We have changed the way you (Hindi cinema) look at cinema.’ This statement and his demeanour during the interaction, which also featured filmmakers like Archana Kalpathi, Siddharth, Don Palathara and Chandini Sasha, didn’t go down well with a lot of people, including filmmaker Sanjay Gupta.
The Kaante filmmaker launched a tirade against Vamsi, and took to social media to establish his derision. He wrote, “Who is this obnoxious guy sitting next to a senior producer like Boney Ji and deriding him with his fake vanity? Look at his body language and disgusting attitude. 4/5 hits dene se yeh Bollywood ke baap nahin bane na banenge (You won’t become Bollywood’s father by delivering a few hits).”
ALSO READ: Boney Kapoor and Naga Vamsi argue over regional cinema’s influence on Bollywood: ‘You were stuck making films for Bandra and Juhu’
Who is this obnoxious guy sitting next to a senior producer like Boney Ji and deriding him with his fake vanity?
Look at his body language and disgusting attitude.
4/5 hits dene se yeh Bollywood ke baap nahin bane na banienge. https://t.co/WhG232dG5r— Sanjay Gupta (@_SanjayGupta) December 31, 2024
In fact, Sanjay Gupta went on to call him out for his body language, and questioned if he would have done something similar in front of senior Telugu producers like Allu Aravind and Suresh Babu.
Gupta wrote, “Would he have the guts to sit in front of senior Producers like Allu Arvind Sir or Suresh Babu Sir and speak to them in this manner pointing his fingers in their face. Learn to value RESPECT before SUCCESS.” He also spoke in praise of South cinema producers who were always the picture of ‘humility and discipline’. “The first thing we learnt working with the great Southern Film Producers was HUMILITY and DISCIPLINE. An obnoxious show of arrogance is the very last thing you would expect from them.”
Would he have the guts to sit in front of senior Producers like Allu Arvind Sir or Suresh Babu Sir and speak to them in this manner pointing his fingers in their face.
Learn to value RESPECT before SUCCESS. https://t.co/ec7MnctlZZ— Sanjay Gupta (@_SanjayGupta) December 31, 2024
What truly caught Boney Kapoor’s goat in the roundtable was Naga Vamsi’s insinuation that Hindi cinema hasn’t done much in the recent past, and even the big-ticket successes in Hindi had a strong South connection. Although Boney tried to point out that Hindi cinema still has a strong history, and proven track record, Vamsi tried to drive home that the tides were changing. In fact, he even said that filmmakers in Hindi cinema would have had sleepless nights after the blockbuster success of Pushpa 2, especially on the first Sunday when it made more than Rs 80 crore.
Sanjay Gupta didn’t let this aside go as he quickly took to social media to respond to this jibe. He wrote, “We slept very peacefully and happily knowing that 86 Cr was collected by our exhibitors. Must be in your case, but other people’s success does not give us sleepless nights.”
We slept very peacefully and happily knowing that 86 Cr was collected by our exhibitors.
Must be in your case, but other people’s success does not give us sleepless nights. https://t.co/g6U75QIbyg— Sanjay Gupta (@_SanjayGupta) December 31, 2024
ALSO READ | Anurag Kashyap declares he is moving out of Mumbai because he is ‘disgusted’ by Hindi film industry: ‘I was ghosted by friends’
Considering Naga Vamsi is not one to shy away from an argument, it would be interesting to see the turn these conversations take in the new year. Even netizens have positioned themselves in opposing camps and fighting it out about the supremacy of their favourite industry. Of course, there are still calls about maintaining unity, and how this is still Indian cinema. But in this time and age, nuances have no place in a social media argument.
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