Nani explains why he does not want ‘The Paradise’ called pan-Indian

Actor Nani has explained why he objects to his films being labelled “pan-Indian”. Ahead of The Paradise release, he questioned why films from South India receive the tag when successful Hindi films released across multiple languages generally continue to be called Hindi films

Chennai: Telugu star Nani, who is now gearing up for the release of his upcoming action entertainer The Paradise, has explained why he keeps insisting that people do not call his films “pan-Indian”.

Interacting with the media in Chennai ahead of the release of director Srikanth Odela’s eagerly awaited film The Paradise, Nani said, “I have been saying this actually for every film of mine, whenever they call it ‘pan-Indian’. But the moment I say it, it is becoming a discussion.

---

“The reason for saying don’t call my film pan-Indian is because I really don’t want any film to be called pan-Indian. For example, if a Hindi film comes and it becomes a big success in Telugu, in Tamil and in Malayalam, that Hindi film is not called pan-Indian. It’s still called a Hindi film,” he pointed out.

“When we see a ‘Jawan’ or a ‘Pathaan’ doing very well in the Tamil version, in the Telugu version, it is not called pan-Indian. It is still called a Hindi film. But when a Telugu film or a Tamil film or a Kannada film does well across the country, it is called a pan-Indian film.

“So, I don’t understand the word pan-Indian. Why is it introduced for South Indian films? Why is it not for Hindi films? So, I’ve always said, for every film, please don’t call my film pan-Indian,” he explained.

The actor further said, “I can’t stop everyone from calling films pan-Indian, but that word doesn’t make sense to me. And my films, I will always try to reach out to my Tamil audience, my Hindi audience, my Malayalam audience, and my Kannada audience. And this will always be the process.

“But I don’t want them to use those tags on my films, but it will still be used. I cannot do much about it. I can only mention or request.”