Kajal Aggarwal reignites 'north vs south cinema debate', says Bollywood lacks 'ethics, values, discipline' of south

Kajal Aggarwal, who has worked in films both in Bollywood and down south, has said that she prefers working in the south industry because of the eco-system there which has ‘ethics, values, and discipline’ something that Bollywood is lacking currently. The actress’ statement has sparked a debate on the differences in the working styles of the two industries.

Speaking at the News 18 Rising India Summit 2023 in Delhi on Thursday, Kajal spoke about the difference between Hindi cinema and the four industries of South – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. She said, “There are a lot of people who want to start their career in Hindi because it is a more nationwide recognised language. Having said that, yes the south is a very friendly industry, it’s very accepting, there are fabulous technicians in the south, wonderful directors and phenomenal content that is generated over all four languages- Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.”

The actress, who was born in Mumbai in a Hindi-speaking family, but found fame in Tamil and Telugu films, further said, “Of course, Hindi has been our mother tongue. We have grown up watching Hindi movies. It has been accepting and has been very kind to me as well. But I prefer the eco-system, the ethics, the values, the discipline of the south industry, which I feel is lacking in Hindi cinema.”

Queen @MsKajalAggarwal’s bold statement

‘I prefer the ethics,discipline of South cinema,which i feel is lacking in Hindi Cinema’ pic.twitter.com/JIAMH8jy4p

— Aryan (@Pokeamole_) March 30, 2023

Many praised Kajal’s statement and applauded her for ‘having the guts to talk about this’. Others, however, said that the statement looked like an unnecessary jibe and would start the ‘needless’ south vs Bollywood debate again.

Kajal made her acting debut with the Hindi film Kyun Ho Gaya Na in 2004 but her first lead role was in the 2007 Telugu film Lakshmi Kalyanam. She found success with SS Rjamouli’s Magadheera in 2009 and went on to be seen in hits in both Tamil and Telugu like Maveeran, Darling, and Thuppakki. She appeared in a handful of Hindi films as well, most notably opposite Akshay Kumar in Special 26.