Hindi vs South cinema: ‘If we come together, can cross ₹3,000 cr, says Salman

The actor was speaking at the Hindi trailer launch of the megastar Chiranjeevi’s film, Godfather, which marks Khan’s debut in Telugu cinema. Khan appears in a crucial cameo appearance in the movie.

He battled for the country’s film industries to collaborate with each other, saying that Indian films have the potential to raise ₹3,000 to ₹4,000 crore at the box office. He also added that the actors should try their hands at various Indian movies instead of going to Hollywood for better opportunities.

“People want to go to Hollywood, but I want to go to the south. The main thing is, once we all start working together, imagine the numbers we will have. His (Chiranjeevi) fans go and watch me. My fans become his fans, his fans become my fans. So everyone just grows and grows, and the numbers become very large. People talk about ₹300-400 crores, if we all get together, then we will cross ₹3000-4000 crores,” Khan told PTI.

In the early 90s, Chiranjeevi also acted in Hindi films such as “Pratibandh”, “Aaj Ka Goonda Raaj” and “The Gentleman”. He said that cinema was not distinguished as ‘regional and national’ in that era.

After that time, I was away from Hindi films and got busy with Telugu films. I believe that there should be one film that has an Indian feeling. There is no regional but Indian film, Chiranjeevi said.

With Khan’s debut in the Telugu industry with Godfather, Chiranjeevi is hopeful of more collaborations in the future.

The 67-year-old actor also added, “The audiences are much more advanced. This is one of the reasons I have come to take you. This is why I asked Sallu bhai, why don’t you come through this film? We will introduce you and films will come automatically. So, this is the first step.”

Salman Khan also cited examples of his previous collaborations with his contemporaries like Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Akshay Kumar.

Chiranjeevi said that Khan instantly agreed to come on board for this new film (Godfather) and didn’t charge any money for it.

The political action thriller, Godfather, is a remake of actor Prithviraj Sukumaran’s 2019 Malayalam directorial “Lucifer”, which featured Mohanlal in the lead. Also starring Nayanthara and Satyadev Kancharana, “Godfather” is directed by Mohan Raja. Produced by Konidela Production Company and Super Good Films, the movie will release on October 5.

(With PTI inputs)