‘We need to break away from the conventional way of thinking’ says Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on the North vs South debate

After a break of many years from the big screen, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is set to spread her magic on the screens as she stars in what is told to be one of the films of the year, Ponniyin Selvan. Directed by Mani Ratnam, the films featured some other big names of the film industry including, Karthi, Trisha Krishnan, and Chiyaan Vikram in the lead roles. The actress has been on a promotion spree along with her team and traveling across the states. As we all know, there has been this heavy debate on Boycott Bollywood or the North vs South debate that has been going on for quite a while now. With many south films doing well at the box office and Bollywood films failing, the actors from the Hindi industry are always being questioned about the same.

Recently, during promotions, Aishwarya addresses her thoughts on this topic saying, "We must leave the conventional ways of viewing artists and the movies because this is a fantastic period right now. Now that all these obstacles have been broken down, I believe it to be a wonderful time. Our cinema is well-known around the country. They genuinely desire to view the theatre from every angle. I believe that now when it is readily available across so many platforms, is the ideal time. In India, anyone can see movies for what they are. Therefore, I believe that in order to help our viewers, audiences, and readers from falling into that standard way of perceiving, we kind of need to break away from this usual way of thinking.”

Aishwarya further adds, “Both the artists and the art have always existed, had an audience, and been valued. However, the options were few. The fact that it is now widely available makes it a terrific time. And you can eat the pudding to see if it's any good, right? It is so clear that people are embracing and enjoying movies from all over the nation.”

Ponniyin Selvan also stars Sobhita Dhulipala, Jayam Ravi, and many others. The Mani Ratnam-directed movie is scheduled to premiere on September 30. It will collide in theatres with the similarly timed release of Vikram Vedha, starring Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan.