Jersey star Shahid Kapoor says 'South films' phrase is misused

Ahead of the release of Jersey, Shahid Kapoor sat down with IndiaToday.in for a quick tête-à-tête.

Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey is a remake of a Telugu film of the same name, starring Superstar Nani. In the recent past, with the success of regional films like Pushpa: The Rise, KGF Chapter 1, the Baahubali series, and more recently, RRR, there has been a conversation around how films made in regional languages and released in Hindi are challenging Bollywood movies at the ticket window. Shahid’s biggest hit Kabir Singh was also a remake of another Telugu film, Arjun Reddy, starring Vijay Deverakonda.

During an exclusive conversation with IndiaToday.in, Shahid was asked to share his thoughts on the recent craze and attention that regional films are drawing. Read excerpts from the conversation:

Shahi Kapoor feels it is a good thing that art is widening the horizon and the audience is accepting it. After all, that's what art is supposed to do. He starts off, "There is no obsession. I am glad that the audience is noticing and appreciating good content. It is opening up the horizons. What is art, after all? It is something that can break boundaries. It can break stereotypes, it can break mindsets because it is talking about life and it is representing humanity and we all share that. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we never realised it. We kept saying 'he is different and I am different', [but] we all breathe the same air. We are meant to co-exist. I think we all have issues in our heads - not wanting to accept and acknowledge that. Art is meant to do that and remind us of the fact that we are all the same. We share the same emotions, feelings, human experiences, and struggles. We are all figuring out how to do it. How to be a good parent, good child, good friend, how to feel good about yourself."

Watch the trailer of Jersey here:

Talking about the Bollywood vs South cinema debate, Shahid adds, "I also feel this phrase 'South films' is very misused. It is a large part of our country. There is Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. They have their own cinema and they all make wonderful films. We should say that this is a Telugu remake. There are a lot of Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada films that are remade. It is important to just have a slightly wider view of things and we can always learn and gain from each other. Why do we look at it as one and the other? Why aren’t we all together? We are a community. We share the same craft, the same love for cinema. Whether it is technicians or actors. Now, even language and culture don’t separate us. So, we can do better work together, and that is amazing. They deserve all the positive appreciation and acknowledgement that they are getting. We should all be gracious about it.”

Shahid Kapoor-starrer Jersy, a remake of the Telugu hit of the same name, starring Nani, releases in theatres on April 14.