Boman Irani says he is ‘completely done’ with North India vs South India debate

MUMBAI: Bollywood star Boman Irani has voiced his thoughts on the forever ongoing North India versus South India debate in cinema, saying he is ‘completely done' with the divide and believes that ultimately ‘we are all Indians.’

During an exclusive conversation with IANS, Boman passionately spoke about unity in Indian cinema and how language should never become a barrier in storytelling.

“I am now done with this North-South India debate to be honest. We all are Indians at the end of the day,” said Boman.

He added “Each region you go to, I mean a Delhiite will speak different from Hindi than I speak. It's just the cinema remains the same, the humanity remains the same, the people who love this country remain the same, Cinema grammar remains the same.”

He added, “It's a style. The language changes. Language changes every 200 kilometres. Am I saying that I am a foreigner to those 200 kilometres? I am not. Neither are they foreigners to us. Right?” Boman said.

The actor further explained how Indian cinema today has gone beyond regional boundaries, with films being celebrated across languages and cities.

Referring to his movie Peddi, Boman said, “Why are we doing these interviews here today? Because a film made in Hyderabad have a certain language. People who hail from there, they are coming to Mumbai to promote their film because it's part of this beautiful country. So, the only thing that we have to adapt to is the language and for me, I think I have figured out a way how to do that. Once you do that and you understand what is the soul of that line, then language becomes easy.”