Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge — superstars Akshay Kumar and Ram Charan used the iconic song from Sholay (1975) to wipe out, once and for all, the lines that divide Indian cinema, with a surprise performance that brought to the fore the spirit of cinematic unity.

The actors joined Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor (Entertainment & Lifestyle), Hindustan Times for an engaging session at the 20th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2022 in Delhi on Saturday, where they discussed how the entertainment world has changed after the pandemic, as well as the emergence of pan-India cinema.

“We never saw Hindi films as projects coming from different regions. They have tremendous exposure. We get inspired by them to make better films,” said Charan, mentioning how all industries have now come together as one. “It is Indian cinema. We all co-exist,” he said.

His thoughts were seconded by Kumar, who has worked in several remakes of regional films. “Why must we talk about regions?” he asked, suggesting “collaborative projects with big stars” from all regions as a step towards coming together as one.

Taking their resolve to come together a notch higher, Kumar enthralled attendees with a performance on Charan’s Telugu song, Rangamma Mangamma while lip-syncing to the lyrics. Charan, too, brought out his filmi side, with a performance on Kumar’s Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast, perfectly symbolising co-existence in cinema.

The actors also weighed in on the strategy that the industry must devise to come up with a new success mantra at the box office, in light of the recent developments.

“Dismantle and reinvent, that’s the only way forward,” said Kumar, adding that not just actors, even producers need to revisit costs that are involved in making a project.

Charan, too, was of the opinion that “rethinking and restructuring the whole game” will surely help makers get the desired results.

As the session progressed, Kumar took the opportunity to address the constant chatter around him doing multiple films a year: “I don’t know what is wrong in working. Why do people question me about working too much, as if it is a bad thing? Some say, ‘Aap subah jaldi kyun uththe ho’. Subah uthne ke liye hi toh hoti hai!”

When asked about the unprecedented success of his film RRR, not only in India but on foreign shores as well, an elated Charan shared that while filming it, nobody expected the film to cross boundaries.

“I am going to countries like Japan, which is a very conservative market, and being appreciated there. It is very heartwarming,” he said.

Kumar also spoke about his decision to step back from the third part of the hit comedy franchise Hera Pheri, saying: “The film was offered to me, but I wasn’t too excited about the way the script and the screenplay shaped up. The movie has been an important part of my journey and I wanted to give something that my audience expects from me. I apologize to my fans, I’m as sad as they are.”

Akshay Kumar’s citizenship is something that has been widely discussed in the public forum. Back in 2019, the actor had revealed that he would be giving up his Canadian citizenship. When he took the stage for his session at HTLS 2022, he shared that his application is under process.

“I want to make one thing clear. Not having an Indian passport does not make me any less of an Indian. I got it many years back and I don’t want to get into the reason why and what happened. I said it in 2019 that I have applied for it, but then, the pandemic happened and everything was shut for the last two years. Now, I have got the renounce letter and very soon, my whole passport will be renounced,” Kumar stated.