Producer Boney Kapoor and actor Siddharth appeared as guests at Galatta Plus' Round Table and they argued if good cinema prevails over star power, contributing towards the overall success of the film.
Film veteran Boney Kapoor cited Jr NTR as a "new face" to establish his argument. Siddharth flagged the comment and said he's already a superstar in the South.
Boney Kapoor talked about the 1981 film Ek Duuje Ke Liye as an example, while pitching for good cinema which always finds its audience, irrespective of languages and regions.
Siddharth shot back that director K Balachander and actor Kamal Haasan were already popular down South back then. Siddharth asked if they would have been accepted in the North in today's scenario. Then Boney Kapoor brought Jr NTR into the picture.
When Siddharth asked if a 'new face' and 'new director' would be accepted by the North Indian audience today, Boney replied, "Yes, why has Adi(tya) Chopra taken Tarak (Jr NTR) for his film (War 2)?"
Producer Naga Vamsi, who already hit headlines for taking a dig at Mumbai after Pushpa 2's gigantic single day collection, laughed and corrected him that Jr NTR wasn't a 'new face'.
Siddharth also joined him and said, "You are 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."
Meanwhile, Boney Kapoor's daughter Janhvi Kapoor made her debut in the South with the Jr NTR-starrer Devara: Part 1 in 2024. Jr NTR will star in Ayan Mukerji's War 2 along with Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani.
At the round table, Boney Kapoor and producer Naga Vamsi also engaged in a debate about Bollywood vs South films.
