Telugu megastar Vijay Deverakonda recently sparked an interesting discussion about the English dominance of global entertainment and communication.
Delivering a speech at the WAVES Summit 2025, he posed a question about the deeply embedded English dominance, thinking about how, as a child, he was more aware of Western culture with the influence of their films.
He clarified that movies have the power to bring other individuals into contact with our language and culture, which makes it a powerful tool of cultural exchange.
Vijay highlighted the historical dominance of Western colonization that made English a common working language throughout India and the world. He highlighted that this change in the language is one of the "soft powers" that the West gained over the centuries, wherein he stated "all of us speaking English is a big soft power victory for the West."
He also acknowledged Hollywood's enormous economic influence, commanding gigantic budgets at least partially due to the fact that the rest of the world is aware of and understands movies in English. Vijay joked that if he produced a movie and Hollywood star Brad Pitt produced another, the disparity between their two salaries would be staggering simply because more of the world sees movies in English.
In retrospect, Vijay was a bit irritated with the past, suggesting that had India's ancestors been more aggressive in promoting languages like Hindi or Telugu internationally, things would have been otherwise. He supported using cinema as a medium to preserve and promote regional languages, suggesting that there was a necessity to aggressively market Indian cinema into international markets.
Vijay also focused on stretching out further for Indian films, particularly in the West, by increased distribution and exposure. His words find truth in the growing international embrace of South Indian cinema, and he emphasized the point that this is the time to expand the Indian films' and cultures' horizons, particularly with the obscuring of regional cinema lines by Bollywood and South Indian film industries.
Vijay was accompanied by Bollywood stars Kareena Kapoor and director Karan Johar, as a part of panel discussion at the event, making it a significant conversation about the role of cinema in shaping language, culture, and worldwide presence.
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