Mani Ratnam on why Hindi cinema is still referred to as Bollywood in the west: ‘People will stop if…’

Mani Ratnam said that if Hindi films can stop calling themselves Bollywood films, then people will stop identifying Indian cinema as Bollywood.

On Wednesday, filmmaker Mani Ratnam, who is gearing up for the release of the second part in the Ponniyin Selvan franchise next week, spoke about south Indian films’ seminal influence on world cinema at the second edition of CII Dakshin Media and Entertainment Summit in Chennai. As part of the panel discussion, Mani Ratnam said that if the Hindi film industry can stop referring to itself as Bollywood, films in other Indian languages will get their due.

Mani Ratnam was one of the members of the panel that discussed south Indian cinema’s impact on a global scale after the recent success of movies such as RRR, Pushpa: The Rise, Kantara and KGF: Chapter 2. Other members of the panel included filmmakers Vetrimaaran and Basil Joseph and actor-director Rishab Shetty.

When the conversation steered towards Indian cinema being constantly referred to as Bollywood in the west, Mani Ratnam said, “If Hindi cinema can stop calling themselves Bollywood, then people will stop identifying Indian cinema as Bollywood.” National Award-winning filmmaker Vetrimaaran echoed the same thought. He said, “I’m not a fan of the ‘woods’. Like Bollywood, Kollywood. We need to see it as Indian cinema on the whole.”

In his welcome speech, Vetrimaaran emphasised on the importance of telling more rooted stories to be accepted universally. “The more rooted that art is the more universal the appeal is. The impact is created because we are telling stories of our people and of our lands,” he said.

In his speech, Rishab Shetty called Kantara the lowest budget pan-Indian movie. He also reiterated that the more local, rooted your story is, the wider will be the acceptance. At the event, Prem Rakshit, the choreographer for the Oscar winning song Naatu Naatu (RRR) and Kartiki Gonsalves, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker were honoured.

The two-day event will see over 60 renowned speakers and 700 delegates from across India, including actors, producers, directors, exhibitors, national heads of OTT platforms and social media influencers among others in participation.