South cinema is worth Rs 21,190 crore: Kamal Haasan

Chennai: Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan on October 16 said that the south Indian film industry is worth Rs 21,190 crore and accounts to 65-70 percent of total movies produced in the country.

"I may sound like I'm bragging, but it's true. National cinema resides in the south because filmmakers there are not restricted to one language. They have taken the effort to go beyond the borders," said Kamal at the opening day of Media and Entertainment Business Conclave (MEBC), a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) initiative.

"South Indian cinema (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam) has filmmakers such as D Rama Naidu, who has produced films in as many as 13 languages, unlike filmmakers such as V Shantaram, who made films only in Hindi and Marathi.

\"National cinema resides in the south because filmmakers there are not restricted to one language,\" says Kamal.

"As per a Deloitte report, the South Indian film industry is worth Rs 21,190 crore. South Indian films also account for 65-70 percent of total films produced in India", added the veteran, who is also the chairman of FICCI MEBC.

Producer Suresh Babu, American producer Barrie Osbourne and Tamil director Ameer were present, among others, at the event.

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