MUMBAI: At the inaugural session of FICCI –FRAMES, which kicked off in Mumbai today, actor – producer and IPL team owner Shah Rukh Khan highlighted some key issues plaguing the Indian film industry. Khan particularly urged the film fraternity to adapt some important learnings from Hollywood.
Khan said, "The three basic needs of every Indian – roti, kapda aur makaan – seem to have been fulfilled for most. There is now a fourth desire and that is entertainment and movies are a popular source of this fourth requirement. Another concept popularly emerging and posing to have a great future is sport entertainment. We are at the threshold of a huge burst on the entertainment arena in India and entertainment is the packaging of a growing economy."
Throwing light on the three key areas where Indian cinema needs to learn from Hollywood, Khan said, "The first is screenplay writing. It is not an art but a science. We need to find expertise in screenplay writing in order to globalize Indian cinema. The second is technology. I remember when I met Will Smith, an actor who does just two films a year and I asked him how he picks his films. He said, ‘On the basis of creative satisfaction and a great superstar for a co-star.’ When I asked him how did he judge if his co-star was a super-star, he said his superstar was ‘VFX and technology.’"
Khan further added, "We have the means to bring in the technology and machines to India, but we don’t have trained people to handle them. We need to develop cheaper software and develop the VFX industry and filmmaking technology in India with the help of Hollywood. The third thing that we need to learn from Hollywood is discipline and organization in filmmaking coupled with the science of marketing films. We need to learn from them. Only then we can ask their help and not just monetary help. We don’t need their investment as much as we need their advice and expertise."
"The time has come to have a symbiotic relationship with Hollywood where we can both feed off the knowledge that we have instead of just the monies. The economic will follow, because then Hollywood and Bollywood together can have a global audience watching our films," he said.
