Regional is becoming new national: Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan attended the JioHotstar Programme South Unbound in Chennai and highlighted the growing national and global prominence of Southern storytelling. At a star-studded event that marked a watershed moment for South India’s Media & Entertainment industry, JioHotstar announced an investment of Rs 4,000 crore over the next five years to boost the region’s creative economy.

Kamal Haasan said stories today are “screen-agnostic” and follow viewers across platforms.

“Today, stories are truly screen-agnostic. They travel with the viewer. The audience has become the platform. And when that happens, the relationship between the medium and the message changes forever. Stories do not belong to any screen; they always travel with the listener and belong to people. Screens simply follow them,” said Kamal Haasan.

Drawing parallels with global successes like Squid Game, he noted that southern Indian languages together speak to more than 275 million people, giving the region unprecedented potential for global reach.