Netizens slam Rani Mukerji for calling Indian films best in world: Audacity of countering Iranian cinema with 12th Fail

Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji, whose last release Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway garnered praises from fans, has now grabbed the headlines for the wrong reason. During a recent roundtable with Galatta Plus, Kannada filmmaker Prithvi Konanur said that  Iranian cinema was better than Indian films as far as ideas go. To which, Rani replied that Indian cinema is the best in the world.

lol the audacity of casually countering the argued brilliance of Iranian cinema with "12th fail" https://t.co/AvPABaYNoy

— Angshuman Choudhury (@angshuman_ch) January 8, 2024

Before the interjection of Rani, Konanur had said, “I ask people to watch Iranian films. Watch them. You can see a vast difference between our films and their films. I feel we are, for some reason, actually far behind Iranian cinema. This is an honest opinion. I request people to watch Iranian films and see how advanced they are in terms of ideas, maybe not in terms of technology, but in terms of ideas where they are.” The Mardaani actress replied, “So I would like to say something here because I am a little offended when he says that we should learn from other people’s cinema. I do believe that Indian cinema is the best in the world, so I would not agree with that. I am really sorry because if you want to talk about films that come from the roots, I think you must watch _12th Fail_ . It is a brilliant film made by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and it talks about India… everything is very brilliantly shown… I feel that we in India make the most diverse films. When you talk about films from outside India, they don’t have the diversity that India has. I believe Indian cinema has a lot to offer and actually are the best in the world… I would not want to compare Indian cinema with any other cinema in the world because we have the truest stories, most grounded stories…" Replying to a tweet that said, “India makes the best films in the world - Rani Mukerji. Do you agree?” an X user responded, “Haven’t seen many Iranian films but pretty sure none of the acclaimed ones featured the protagonist in brownface the entire time to look ‘poor’ the way 12th Fail did. Rani’s take is as garbage as it gets, and Karan Johar next to her (during the roundtable) loved Animal. Sums up the airheads running Bollywood.” Another netizen wrote, “This is what happens when people don’t watch enough movies from outside their country. Not a single point Rani Mukerji said makes sense.” One user tweeted, “Saying India is the best and we make the best films doesn’t mean a thing. Others should say it about us. This sounds pompous…” A person also shared his opinion and tweeted, “lol the audacity of casually countering the argued brilliance of Iranian cinema with 12th fail.”