Bengali film industry improving, says Arijit Dutta

Panaji, Nov 21 (IANS) Actor Arijit Dutta says more Bengali films are being made now and there has been an improvement in the industry.

The "Madras Cafe" actor, who is also the owner of Priya Cinema, says the Bengali film industry is on the "right track".

"There has been an improvement. Earlier, we were only making 45-50 films a year. Now, we have doubled it since the last three-four years. If a film is good, it will get good revenue. But there are a lot of people who burn their fingers. Afterall, filmmaking is a commercial venture," Arijit, who was one of the panelists of "Cinemas of India: Bangla" at Film Bazaar, told IANS here.

He is happy with the way the Bengali film industry is shaping up, but wonders why urban genre films are not accepted by people in districts of West Bengal.

"Movies that are made well get good returns, but somehow urban genre films are not moving into districts," said the "Shunyo Awnko" actor.

Mostly made at a budget of approximately Rs.1.5 crore, Bengali films can't be compared to southern movies, he said.

"Our market is much smaller. The recovery is smaller. There are hardly 400 theatres in West Bengal, whereas in the south, there are at least 2,000 theatres. They have scope of getting money back though not everyone," he said.