Karan Johar at WAVES 2025: "Indian Cinema Must Unite, Not Divide Into North and South":

Suspense crime, Digital Desk : The versatile filmmaker Karan Johar, during the World Audio-Visual and Entertainment Summit 2025 held in Mumbai, strongly appealed for unity in the Indian film industry. While sharing the stage with Bollywood's Kareena Kapoor and Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda, he urged all concerned in the trade and the media to stop furthering the unwarranted rift among Hindi films and South Indian movies.

“We Are Indian Cinema, Not North or South”

During the session Cinema: The Soft Power, Karan Johar pointed out that the division of North and South Indian films is detrimental to the unification of Indian narrative traditions. 'We are not North, we are not South,' we are Indian cinema. This constant debate only divides us,' he added. Further, he cautioned the media not to ask questions that perpetuate rivalry among regional film industries, quoting, “When you divide us, you break us.”

VIJAY DEVERAKONDA: 'Collaboration is the Future'

In support of Johar’s statement, Vijay Deverakonda pointed out that there’s a difference between the discourse attracting attention and the reality of cinema's progress. He said, 'This kind of debate can be amusing for the media, but not for directors and viewers.'

Referring to two recent successes at the box office, he further remarked: “Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2 both did over ₹1000 crore. Just imagine the astronomical figures we can achieve if stars from both regions band together”

WAVES 2025: An Indian Media Global Stage

Waves 2025 summit, launched by Prime Minister Modi on May 1, is organized by The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which focuses on expanding India’s media influence internationally. The event has more than 10,000 attendees, including 1,000 content creators, 300 companies, and 350 startups from over 90 countries.

The summit which will take place until May 4 seeks to enhance collaboration at regional and global levels while also promoting Indian cinema internationally.