Bollywood can never match Hollywood–Indian actor
By Paul Majendie
VENICE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Indian films have got worse and Bollywood will never be able to match the quality of Hollywood movies, says one of India’s top actors.
Naseeruddin Shah, who has made 125 films and been garlanded with awards, said the Bollywood mass production line of films from Mumbai were ruined by bloated budgets and appalling scripts.
In an outspoken attack on his own industry, he said: ``We made far better films in the Fifties and Sixties. The quality of the writing has deteriorated abysmally, even in popular movies.‘’
He told Reuters: ``I know my saying these things will displease a lot of people in Bollywood but I won’t lose any sleep as I feel very strongly about this.
``By and large they are content to just cook up some old cliched story and rehash some old Hollywood film,‘’ he said.
Asked if Bollywood could ever give Hollywood a run for its money in the international movie market, he said: ``No, frankly I don’t think so.‘’
Naseeruddin Shah, who won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Festival back in 1985 for Paar,'' has returned to the scene of his great triumph to star in Monsoon Wedding’’ which tells the tale of an extended Punjabi family returning to Delhi for an arranged marriage.
For the soft-spoken actor, Mira Nair’s film was a joy to make – 10 days in workshop rehearsals, a superb script, hand-held cameras for realism and a tight budget.
It was a sharp contrast to what he is used to.
``For the vast majority of filmmakers in Bombay, making a good film is only their second or third priority. Raking in the box office is the first, making a name for yourself is the second.‘’
I think it is absolutely criminal the amount of money that is wasted on big films,'' he said. In India what the hell is a script? If a big star is in the movie, he makes it up as he goes along.‘’
BOLLYWOOD APPEAL
The 52-year-old actor noted how Bollywood films have now become hugely popular with Indian expatriate communities around the world in such countries as Britain, Australia and South Africa.
But he said it was nothing to do with their quality. This is their only connection with home, he said. ``It is a great catharsis. They can have a few samosas and laugh and cry about home.‘’
Naseeruddin Shah is the first to raise his hand and plead guilty. I have made 125 films in my life so far and a good 75 of those were Bollywood,'' he said. It is demoralizing. I have done plenty. I am lucky my reputation as an actor has survived.‘’
For he has been hailed as one of the country’s greatest actors, winning four FilmFare awards, India’s equivalent of the Oscar.
Theater has saved his sanity. He is currently touring internationally in a production of Hamlet by renowned director Peter Brooks. He broke off from the tour to promote ``Monsoon Wedding’’ at the world’s oldest film festival in this lagoon city.
``I would like a career in theater. I would like to tackle writing of some quality that you never get in films,‘’ he said.
And he snorts once more in disgust over the Bollywood production line: ``There are actors who work on five films a day. They are all on the go at the same time. My solution is to cut down the budgets. The bubble is going to burst.‘’