Stereotyping tribes, communities, isn’t new to Bollywood, it’s been done for years in films, widely. Whether a script is portraying a South Indian, a Bengali, a Punjabi, we always get to witness a character typifying the same characteristics all over, which is definitely bizarre!
And now talking about it Priyamani, who is one of the recognised South actresses opened up about how South Indians have been portrayed in Indian films for years.
Talking to Bollywood Hungama, she said, “Finally, the talent in the South is also getting recognised. There was a time when earlier we had people like Sridevi, Rekha, Hema Malini, Vyjayanthimala, who ruled Bollywood. And then there was a dearth… you know. We have only Hindi-speaking actors in Bollywood and they used to sort of portray South Indians – could be somebody from Chennai, could be somebody from Kerala – they used to portray them as people who used to not speak Hindi in the normal way – ‘Aiyo, kaisa ji, kya bolta ji’- like that.”
She added that she is happy that things are changing, “I’ve also seen a lot of films like that and I used to think to myself that South Indians don’t speak Hindi like that. But you know, maybe it’s their version. Maybe they have come across some people who did speak Hindi like that. And after a point, they stopped that and started getting South technicians to Bollywood. And, we saw a surge of a lot of South Indian technicians coming to Bollywood and making their mark successfully. And right now, I’m very happy that finally South talent is also getting recognised here in Bollywood and South stars are also getting their due.” as quoted by Hindustan Times.