Mani Ratnam says Hindi cinema should stop calling itself Bollywood; Vetri Maaran concurs

Mani Ratnam at the sets of ‘Ponniyin Selvan’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Veteran director Mani Ratnam, who attended the second edition of CII Dakshin Media and Entertainment Summit in Chennai, spoke at a panel which was about the impact of south Indian films.

During the interaction, the filmmaker suggested that he was against the idea of labelling industries as Bollywood or Kollywood. According to reports, Mani Ratnam said that if Hindi cinema can stop calling themselves Bollywood, then people will stop identifying Indian cinema as Bollywood.

Vetri Maaran, who was also a panel member and was a part of the discussion concurred with Mani Ratnam’s statement and added that he’s also not a fan of the ‘woods’. He also added that we have to see it as Indian cinema on the whole.

ALSO READ: Mani Ratnam: ‘Ponniyin Selvan 2’ will shine more than the first film; that was just an introduction

Meanwhile, Mani Ratnam is awaiting the release of Ponniyin Selvan 2 that’s slated to be released on April 28. Based on the works by Kalki, the second instalment features Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Vikram, Trisha and Jayam Ravi in lead roles. The rest of the cast includes Prakash Raj, Prabhu, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jayaram, Ashwin Kakumanu, Mohan Raman, Sarathkumar and Parthiban.