Aishwarya Rai Bachchan On North-South Divide: Need A Break From Conventional Thinking

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has returned to big screens after the 2018 film Fanney Khan. The former Miss World is busy promoting her upcoming Tamil movie Ponniyin Selvan. PS 1 is Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus in which the actress will play a double role. While promoting her film Aishwarya addressed the most popular subject of the film industry, the north-south divide. 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan started her acting career with Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar in 1997 and now her latest movie is again helmed by the ace director. Later she made her Bollywood debut with Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya Na in the same year. Serving the industry for almost 25 years Aishwarya spoke on Bollywood vs South debate.

Talking about the north-south divide, Aishwarya said, “It’s an amazing time right now, where we need to break away from the typical way of looking at artists and cinema. I think it’s a great time right now, where all these barriers have gone down. People know our cinema Nationally. In fact, they are wanting to see the cinema from every part.”

She went on to say, “I think this is finally the perfect time where it has become accessible Nationally through so many platforms. Everybody can view cinema for what it is, across India. So I think we need to kind of break away from this conventional way of thinking and help our viewers, our audiences, and our readers also to not slide into that typical way of viewing. Art has always been there, found the audience, and has been appreciated; so, have the artists. But avenues were limited. Today is a great time when it has become accessible to everybody. And proof of the pudding is in the eating, right? It is so evident that people are embracing and lapping up cinema from across the country.”

Talking about Ponniyin Selvan 1, it is an official adaptation of a historical fiction novel in the same name. Ponniyin Selvan novel is written by Kalki Krishnamurthy in Tamil. The epic period action pan-India film is to be released in multiple languages including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. The movie is set for worldwide release on September 30. Helmed by Mani Ratnam the film is produced under the banners of Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions.

Also Read: Mani Ratnam Reveals Ajay Devgn’s Great Contribution To Ponniyin Selvan 1