NEW DEHLI: Actor and producer Saif Ali Khan, also known as the nawab Khan, strongly believes that Bollywood has its own unique identity and feels the industry should rival Hollywood as its Eastern equivalent. “We shouldn’t try to cross over,” he said.
“Our Eastern identity is fundamentally different from theirs,” he said. “We should aim at taking our movies to the Middle East or to places like Egypt and Spain where the audience is more suited to our film content.”
“We should rival Hollywood as an Eastern equivalent, if ‘Western’ is what they call themselves,” he added.
With over two decades in films and with veteran actor Sharmila Tagore as his mother, Saif does have a fair idea of how and what kind of cinema clicks; he admits he enjoys watching a lot of international cinema, too.
The 42-year-old actor, who completed his studies in England, believes Iran and Iraq make some “great cinema”.
“But I’m not too sure if they have the kind of budgets we have. We just need to pay more thought and attention to detail in what we do and build on our individual identity,” he continued. “We’re doing pretty well, and we are getting there slowly.”
The Indian viewer isn’t pleased too easily, he added. “We don’t really have a like-minded audience here [in India]. It’s difficult and despite being so populous, we have very few writers and directors. But I see a lot of young people getting into it and I hope it [the change] will happen. It has to happen! We will get there. I am sure,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2013.
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