Amol Palekar says south industry was far more professional than Bollywood even in the 70s: The bigger the star, the late they would arrive – Times of India

Veteran actor Amol Palekar recently opened up about the difference he felt between south film industry and Hindi film industry. He said that south industry was far more professional than Bollywood even in the 70s. He also claimed that there were only three actors in the industry who were punctual on the sets.
In a chat show, Amol said that he was the most junior actor in that list. The first actor was Dev Anand who would show up at 9 if he was required to be at 9 in the morning. The second actor was Amitabh Bachchan who used to come on time and the third actor was him.

He then went on to recall the time when he was shooting with Amitabh and Rajinikanth in the same studio. He noticed that Amitabh would always show up on time while Rajinikanth would arrive way earlier than required and ready with makeup.
He further added that Rajinikanth would sit with spot boys on the bench, talk and have tea with them. If the shift was at 9, he would go up to the director at 9 and say that he is ready.

Amol then pointed out that showing up late had become a trend in the Hindi film industry, which was being considered as a sign of one’s stardom. The bigger the star, the late they would arrive on the sets. He found this behaviour extremely unprofessional.

He further said that all these wrong trends were not there in the south film industry. People were well quipped, much more professional, they were all very humble people and he enjoyed working in regional films.

However, Amol said that he has seen a lot of difference in the culture of the Hindi film industry as the young generation of actors are much more prepared, come on time and know their lines.