Vikrant Rona star Kiccha Sudeep talks about Bollywood’s dry run at box office, says ‘if the Hindi film industry…’

There’s no denying that the Hindi film industry has been suffering as far as box office numbers are concerned.

With a series of flops and only three films so far in 2022 doing well at the ticket window namely Gangubai Kathiawadi, The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Bollywood’s dry run at the box office has become a cause of concern for the fraternity.

Meanwhile, films hailing from down South such as RRR, Pushpa, Master, and KGF Chapter 2 have been blockbuster hits even in the Hindi belt. Recently, YRF’s big-budget film starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role, Shamshera, also flopped at the box office.

Meanwhile, Vikrant Rona star Kiccha Sudeepa said at a recent event in Mumbai that he doesn’t want to “generalise” the success of South films as he believes that if Bollywood didn’t have good work to offer, it wouldn’t have lasted this long.

“A lot of films are made in a year, not every film does well. A couple of films do, a couple of films don’t. That doesn’t mean that we generalise and say it (the industry) is dominating. There are good times for everything. If the Hindi film industry wasn’t doing great films, if it didn’t have great people, how would you sustain for so many years?” he told PTI.

Drawing a comparison with cricketer Virat Kohli, who is currently struggling with form, Sudeepa said it is just a matter of time before things get back on track.

“It’s just a matter of (time)… It’s like Virat Kohli being out of form for a while. Are you going to take away his records? It doesn’t work that way… Every industry is standing by its potential,” he added.

Kiccha Sudeepa, 48, said the cultural exchange which happens across industries points to artists being absolutely secure.

Citing Vikrant Rona as an example, the actor said the film shows how collaborations work across industries, with Salman Khan presenting the movie and Jacqueline Fernandez starring in it.

“We collaborate with Hindi films, sir (Khan) is now supporting our film… Within the industry, why would she (Fernandez) come and do this, why would we call her? “Right now sir is doing a prime role in Hyderabad, he’s going (for shoot) and coming back. Why would he do that? All of us are secure. It’s a beautiful thing to exchange ideas, collaborate… I think it’s a beautiful atmosphere that we have,” Sudeepa said.

Adding to it, Salman Khan said the cultural exchange between the various film industries has always been there. “For some reason it had stopped. I’ve worked with a lot of talent from the South, I’ve worked with him (Sudeepa), Prakash Raj, Prabhudeva, a lot of South directors and DOPs… All the south people have worked here and given big hits,” Khan told PTI.