New Delhi: Veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra talked about the changes Indian cinema has gone through over the past years in an interview to CNN, to be aired this week.
The Hindi films today may be technically superior than those in the 60s and the 70s but in the drive to become 'chic' and 'polished', Indian cinema has lost out on the basic content that is the essential ingredient of any film, Chopra said.
"There's been so much progress in the Hindi film industry over the last few decades on the digital and technical side. Too many people are talking about looks, costumes and make-up; everything must be flawless. But I think we have lost something. We are not giving so much importance to content as we did before," Chopra said.
"Today, we are bothered more by the form and less by the content. But the thing that makes a good picture is still the story. I know very good young filmmakers - very competent, very ambitious - but they have to give more thought to the content than the film," the filmmaker said.
"I feel the greatest need today is for ideas. Someone called it complete intellectual bankruptcy. Now people are coming with new ideas but for such a big country we don't have good writers, we don't have scripts. The greatest need for our film industry is stories, scripts and actors. Only then can we make good films," he added.
Chopra also bemoaned the fall in standards of film music today. "On the music side, I think we have lost the soul. There is no soul in music now. (Earlier) people used to write meaningful lyrics from the heart," he said.
Chopra is considered the most charismatic and powerful director of the Mumbai film industry with a series of hit films to his credit in the recent years.
It was 60 years ago, that Chopra decided to be a filmmaker when he was in college. His brother, B R Chopra taught him filmmaking and gave him a chance in 1958.
The legend was given his first directorial opportunity with Dhool Ka Phool in 1959.
Comments
0 comment