'South Indians get limited opportunities in Bollywood'

Following actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, a multitude of film professionals has been debating on the unfair practices in the field. Malayalam filmmaker Vijith Nambiar said he was saddened by Sushant’s death as he was one of his favourite actors.

In a video message, Vijith talked about how things usually work in Bollywood and that South Indians generally don’t get enough acknowledgement there. “They only promote those in their friend circle and simply neglect the others. This attitude is not something new, it has been there for years,” he said.

Being a musician himself, Vijith started by talking about the music industry. “Dasettan (Yesudas) made his entry at a time when Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar reigned supreme. All his songs were superhits. There was one particular song that they both couldn’t sing and was given to Yesudas instead. His reach was wide. But eventually, he was driven out. The same goes for Chithra chechi. In the beginning, she did a lot of Hindi songs but not anymore. The same goes for S Janaki.”

Speaking about actors, Vijith asked why major South Indian superstars have made only limited appearances in Hindi cinema. “How many Hindi films have Mammootty, Mohanlal and Prithviraj appeared in? From Tamil, there was Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, but after a time they too were driven out. From Telugu, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, and Ram Charan have been part of Hindi films, but it was all limited,” he added.

The director feels that South Indian actors would fare better in their respective industries than in Bollywood. “Instead of going there and getting humiliated, it’s better for them to be in their own industry as they already have a strong base there. They have already proved their talents there. So it’s not a good idea to go elsewhere and change them because things are extreme over there. I hope other young actors don’t experience the same fate,” he said.