Shekhar Kapoor rose to international fame and popularity with his Hindi film Bandit Queen
New Delhi:
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who hasdirected films 0like Masoom, Mr India, Bandit Queen,Elizabeth, says the Indian film industry is not an emergingmarket, contrary to the popular notion.
"Our film industry is a contracting market, contrary tothe belief that it is an emerging market. Cinema which used tobe for the masses has now become a medium for the elite. Thedesigner clothes, the flashiness in films is also the reasonthat the mass is not so much attached to films," Kapur said,while speaking on the topic of 100 years of Indian cinema atthe CII Media and Entertainment Summit, 2012.
The 66-year-old rose to international fame and popularitywith his Hindi film Bandit Queen based upon the life ofPhoolan Devi, an infamous Indian outlaw.
The director also said that the main reason for thedecline is television and the new media, the Internet."When we look at the statistics, we will see that thenumber of cinema goers is going down and the ticket prices aregoing up. The masses which is 80 per cent of the population isaddicted to TV because it is cheaper," he said.
Kapur also raised doubts about the survival of cinemabecause of lack of infrastructure."We have just 16,000 theatres in India and there are somany filmmakers. How will we cater to that? Cinema is bothbusiness and art. As a business it will survive but as an artI am not sure," he added.
The director said that he feels regional cinema is doingbetter than Hindi cinema because they have not lost theiridentity."Regional cinema is doing much better that Hindi cinema,in terms of content and story.
They are doing well becausethey still have held on to their identity. I feel that in thelast 10 years, Indian cinema has lost its identity. I recentlysaw Makkhi and I was so impressed, be it technology, story.It was no less than a Hollywood superhero film but then againit was a Telugu movie not in Hindi language," Kapur said.The filmmaker, whose historical biopics of QueenElizabeth- Elizabeth and its sequel The Golden Age,garnered Oscar nominations, said that Indian films are not farbehind Hollywood movies, they only lack in terms oftechnology.
"We keep comparing our film to Hollywood movies. It isnot that we don't make great films or don't tell greatstories. What we lack in is technology, in production design.The problem is the world is shifting beneath us," Kapur said."We have to merge, we cannot isolate ourself from theworld. If we want our films to reach main stream Hollywood, wehave to improve our infrastructure," he added.
"Our film industry is a contracting market, contrary tothe belief that it is an emerging market. Cinema which used tobe for the masses has now become a medium for the elite. Thedesigner clothes, the flashiness in films is also the reasonthat the mass is not so much attached to films," Kapur said,while speaking on the topic of 100 years of Indian cinema atthe CII Media and Entertainment Summit, 2012.
The 66-year-old rose to international fame and popularitywith his Hindi film Bandit Queen based upon the life ofPhoolan Devi, an infamous Indian outlaw.
The director also said that the main reason for thedecline is television and the new media, the Internet."When we look at the statistics, we will see that thenumber of cinema goers is going down and the ticket prices aregoing up. The masses which is 80 per cent of the population isaddicted to TV because it is cheaper," he said.
Kapur also raised doubts about the survival of cinemabecause of lack of infrastructure."We have just 16,000 theatres in India and there are somany filmmakers. How will we cater to that? Cinema is bothbusiness and art. As a business it will survive but as an artI am not sure," he added.
The director said that he feels regional cinema is doingbetter than Hindi cinema because they have not lost theiridentity."Regional cinema is doing much better that Hindi cinema,in terms of content and story.
They are doing well becausethey still have held on to their identity. I feel that in thelast 10 years, Indian cinema has lost its identity. I recentlysaw Makkhi and I was so impressed, be it technology, story.It was no less than a Hollywood superhero film but then againit was a Telugu movie not in Hindi language," Kapur said.The filmmaker, whose historical biopics of QueenElizabeth- Elizabeth and its sequel The Golden Age,garnered Oscar nominations, said that Indian films are not farbehind Hollywood movies, they only lack in terms oftechnology.
"We keep comparing our film to Hollywood movies. It isnot that we don't make great films or don't tell greatstories. What we lack in is technology, in production design.The problem is the world is shifting beneath us," Kapur said."We have to merge, we cannot isolate ourself from theworld. If we want our films to reach main stream Hollywood, wehave to improve our infrastructure," he added.
