‘Indian cinema needs to be judged on its own perspective’

PANJIM, JUNE 29 – Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal today trashed criticism that Indian cinema has not yet grown to achieve the coveted Oscar award saying we need to judge Indian cinema with our own perspective.
“We have to look at the Indian cinema in our own perspective and judge, not from the western angle,” Benegal said interacting with media persons on the penultimate day of the four-day ongoing South Asian Film Festival (SAFF).
The veteran filmmaker also claimed that there was nothing great about the West oriented award.
‘’What is great about the Oscar? It is considered the highest award in the West, not for us. We have diverse cultures different from the West,’’ he quipped.
Benegal said Indian diverse cinematic languages, nuances and aesthetic concepts were difficult for the West to understand.
At the same time, only two Indians including Shekhar Kapoor were in the Oscar Academy.
Despite all odds, he said, Indian cinema was growing at 16 to 18 per cent every year and it was the highest in the world including that of the Hollywood.
Only three billion tickets had been sold for the Hollywood cinema earning much revenue as its ticket base was bit unlike in India, where the audience was much larger, he said

Courtesy:oheraldo.in
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