Unlike Malayalam and Tamil cinema, which he hailed for their strong, content-driven storytelling, actor Prakash Raj said mainstream Hindi cinema has lost its roots, becoming increasingly "fake" and "money-oriented".
Speaking at the ongoing ninth edition of the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) on Saturday, the award-winning actor criticised Hindi films for their artificiality, saying they have become like a "Madame Tussauds museum" where everything seems beautiful with no substance.
"In the present context, I feel Malayalam and Tamil cinema are making very strong films... Hindi cinema, on the other hand, has lost its roots. Everything looks beautiful, wonderful, like plastic, as you see in the Madame Tussauds museum.
"We (the South) still have stories to tell, the new young directors of Tamil are talking about Dalit issues. And that gives so much of hope," said Raj, renowned for his work across Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam cinema, in a session titled The Artist I Became.
The 60-year-old filmmaker-actor further analysed what ails Hindi cinema, tracing its decline to the post-multiplex era, when it began catering primarily to urban audiences.
Raj, known for his performances in hit films such as Singham and Wanted, argued that the industry's focus on glamour and surface-level aesthetics has weakened its emotional connection with viewers.
"After multiplexes, the Bombay film industry started making films only for multiplexes. Very cute films and things like that. Because they were running well. They went into that Page 3 culture, and with that lost the touch with rural Rajasthan and Bihar," he explained. -- PTI
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