Nani shuts down Salman Khan's comment about South audiences

Hyderabad: Tollywood actor Nani, known for hits like Jersey, Hi Nanna, and Gang Leader, has become popular all over India for his natural acting style. He is now busy promoting his upcoming movie HIT 3. During one of the interviews, Nani reacted to Salman Khan’s recent comment about South Indian audiences not supporting Bollywood films.

Rendu rojullo
2 Days #HIT3 pic.twitter.com/VlPfmAb5xa

— Nani (@NameisNani) April 29, 2025

Nani Says South Always Loved Bollywood

Speaking to DNA, Nani said he does not agree with Salman’s opinion. He explained, Hindi cinema is original; South cinema’s current craze is more recent. Bollywood movies have been loved in the South for many years.

He shared “Woh (Hindi) original hai, yeh (South) baad mein aaya. Yeh South ko jo pyaar mil raha hai, woh recent hai. Magar jo Bollywood ko pyaar milta hai South mein, woh toh decades se hai. Waha har ek aadmi ko aap punchenge ‘Aapka favourite Hindi film konsi hai’, toh they will have childhood memories of Amitabh Bachchan. They will talk about so many films. So we always watched (Hindi) films – Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, were blockbusters in Hyderabad and other southern states. Everyone is now lapping South, but Hindi cinema always lapped up across the country.”

Salman Khan’s Movies Are Big in South Too

Nani smiled and said, “Nahi, waha nahi chale? Bina chale kaise superstar ban gaye? 100% chalti hai (No, they didn’t work there? How did they become superstars without being watched across the country? They definitely work 100%), and we all love him. We’ve all watched so many of Salman’s films. Movies like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! hold cultural importance there. Didi Tera Devar Deewana and other songs – we used to play them at our wedding.”

What Salman Khan Had Said

During Sikandar promotions, Salman Khan said that while South Indian movies are loved in the North, Bollywood films don’t get the same love in the South because fans are loyal to their local stars.

He said, “When my film is released there, it doesn’t get the numbers because their fan following is very strong. I’ll walk on the street, and they’ll say, ‘Bhai, Bhai’, but they won’t go to the theatres. The way we’ve accepted them here hasn’t happened there. Their films do well because we go and see them, like those of Rajinikanth sir, Chiranjeevi garu, Suriya or Ram Charan. But their fans don’t go to see our films.”

As Nani gets ready for the release of HIT 3 on May 1, his strong and sweet defense of Bollywood’s bond with the South has caught everyone’s attention.

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