Although 2024 was a challenging year for many Indian film industries, particularly Bollywood, Telugu and Malayalam cinema performed significantly better.
According to a report by Indian Express on Wednesday, three Telugu films, Pushpa 2: The Rule, Kalki 2898 AD, and Devara: Part 1, ranked among the top five highest-grossing Indian films of the year, while Bollywood’s only entry was Stree 2.
In a recent roundtable hosted by Galatta Plus, producers from across India discussed the state of Indian cinema. A comment from veteran Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor about Jr NTR, along with Siddharth’s response, has since gained significant attention.
During the discussion, Boney cited director K Balachander’s Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) as an example of cinema that transcended language barriers. When Siddharth asked whether a “new face and director” would be similarly accepted today, Boney replied, “Yes, why has Adi(tya) Chopra taken Tarak (Jr NTR) for his film (War 2)?”
This led Naga Vamsi to laugh and clarify that Jr NTR was far from a “new face,” with Siddharth adding, “You’re talking about the biggest superstar of this (south) industry working with the biggest superstar (Hrithik Roshan) of this (north) industry, working with the biggest producer in India,” according to Hindustan Times.
Interestingly, Boney’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor recently shared screen time with Jr NTR in Devara, following his global fame from RRR and the popular “Naatu Naatu” song. Directed by Koratala Siva, Devara also starred Saif Ali Khan, Prakash Raj, Srikanth, and Shine Tom Chacko, grossing Rs 421 crore worldwide, according to Sacnilk.
In his review of Devara, SCREEN’s Avinash Ramachandran stated, “The Jr NTR film starts off strong but suffers a prolonged downturn, eventually salvaged by a bloody finale that is both engaging and outlandish.”
