Mumbai, May 5 : Actor Kunal Kapoor, whose latest release is 'Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins', has spoken about working across languages and said that he doesn't view cinema through the lens of 'North, South, East, or West.'

Kunal said: "I am an Indian actor shooting films in different Indian industries. I don't view cinema through the lens of North, South, East, or West. These regional divisions serve political interests, not artistic ones.'

'The politicians are the ones who benefit from such regionalism. As creative people, our vision should transcend these manufactured divides," said the actor, who has previously worked in projects such as 'Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities", "Rang De Basanti,' and 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' to name a few.

He highlighted the creative freedom of Indian storytellers and emphasized that the vision of filmmakers and actors should transcend regional divides.

Kunal said: "The whole country is our playground, every story worth telling is our story, every audience member is our audience. When we stop thinking of ourselves as regional actors and start seeing ourselves as Indian storytellers, we unlock the true potential of our collective creative spirit."

For the unversed, Kunal has worked across languages in Indian cinema. He made his Malayalam debut with Veeram in 2016 and his Telugu debut with Devadas in 2018.

Looking forward, he has another Telugu film in the pipeline, titled Vishwambhara and will reportedly be seen in 'Ramayana' by Nitesh Tiwari.

Kunal started his career as an assistant director, and made his acting debut with the MF Hussain 2004 film Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.

He was then seen in films such as Rang De Basanti, Aaja Nachle, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Welcome to Sajjanpur, Don 2, Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, Dear Zindagi, Veeram, Gold, The Empire. He will also make his Telugu debut in Vishwambhara.

Along with his acting career, Kunal is also a trained pilot and races rally and formula 3 cars.

/IANS