Deepika Padukone feels lines between Hindi, Tamil, Telugu film industries are blurring, says there is more ‘cross-cultural acceptance’

Talking to The Times of India before leaving for Cannes, Deepika shared how she feels the lines between Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam cinema are finally fading away in India. She said, “I think, earlier, we worked in isolation – there was a Hindi film industry, a Telugu film industry, a Tamil industry and a Malayalam industry… And now those guardrails are coming down.” In the actor’s opinion, there is more “cross-cultural acceptance, as there should be.”
Deepika is a part of the nine-member jury at the Cannes Film Festival — four women and five men, who will jointly decide which movie will take home the top prize. On Monday, she reached Cannes and attended the jury dinner before walking the red carpet.

In the interview, the Bajirao Mastani star also pointed out how during her early days in the film industry, she felt out of place since she didn’t watch many movies. When she used to meet her industry friends they would make references about films they’d watched, which were completely “alien” to her.

“My life growing up was very different. I was at the badminton court, and it was a very structured and disciplined life, in that sense. There was no time for movies,” Deepika said, adding that earlier, she used to watch only one or two films in a year and now she has a lot of “catching up to do”.
Up next, Deepika has Pathaan, in which she will be seen in a lead role along with Shah Rukh Khan. She also has the Bollywood remake of The Intern and Hrithik Roshan-starrer Fighter in the pipeline.