Of late, there’s been debate around the rising popularity of south cinema across India and its impact on Bollywood. But actor Tamannaah Bhatia, who has worked in both Hindi as well as south films, is displeased with the north-south divide. She feels all the projects are under one umbrella — Indian cinema.

“We have misunderstood the whole thing and created these strange differences of north and south industries all of a sudden. It really doesn’t matter which part of India you come from. The world looks at it (all the films) as Indian cinema,” Bhatia tells us.

In fact, it was during her visit to the Cannes Film Festival when she realised how the world was taking note of Indian cinema and applauding it. “A lot of regional films from India were showcased at the festival and I realised that nobody called any project a south Indian film or anything else. They were all called Indian films. Par hum log India mein baith ke unko south, north, west bol rahe hain,” the 32-year-old shares.

Bhatia, who has done films in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, adds, “I am probably an example of how language doesn’t matter. I am a Sindhi girl from Mumbai, but most people think that I am from south India. I speak Tamil and Telugu, as a large part of my career has been in the south.”

The Baahubali actor feels that artistes should play a key role in bridging the regional gap for the sake of Indian cinema. “It is up to individuals to blur the line. I never wanted to be a part of the south film industry or north film industry. I just wanted to be in front of the camera and be a part of cinema. In the end, it is about creating authentic content. One can be in any part of our country and reach people with authentic content,” says Bhatia, who now wishes to explore acting opportunities outside India, too. “Now, I feel I want to collaborate with people from all around the world,” she ends.