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'OSCARS, LIKE THE NATIONAL AWARDS, ARE RIGGED'
Naseeruddin Shah, in town for Anjan Dutt's BBD, feels that while Bollywood is getting slicker, 'we're still doing the same old stories'. And, no, he doesn't look up to anyone in the Indian film industry
DIPANNITA GHOSH BISWAS Times News Network
You are acting in Anjan Dutt's BBD. What is the role about?
I know Anjan since the time he used to act in Mrinal Sen's films and when he approached me with the film, I was more than willing. I loved the script and found it very dramatic. I play the father of one of the central characters,a rich industrialist with no scruples. It's a minor supporting role.
Naseeruddin Shah in a minor supporting role?
Yes. There are certain films that need to be supported because they are made not for the money part of it but for the love of the form. This is no different.
So you too are becoming a part of the new genre of cinema?
I don't exactly understand this term. It's the media which is dying to proclaim a new wave. I'm afraid, we may be repeating a mistake that we made during the late 70s. Lots of bad films were made during that period but passed off as parallel cinema. They are still lying in the godowns of NFDC not having seen the light of day. It's too premature a stage to start a new wave.
And are any of your films lying there too?
Yes, of course. A few days back I was making a list and realised that as many as 25 of my films haven't released though they are complete films, in every sense. I plan to hold a festival of all my unreleased films some day, only if I get hold of the prints. On a serious note, I feel NFDC made a big damage to the progress of cinema by financing unworthy movies. Moreover, there were just a handful of good film-makers.
Are small budget films a boon or a ban?
It's a great mercy that such films are being made. I admire directors like Rajat Kapoor, Rahul Dholakia, Nagesh Kukunoor but sooner or later, the itch to work with popular stars kicks in, and this acts as a stumbling block.
You were a confirmed name in Bollywood when you directed Yu Hota Toh Kya Hota. What went wrong with it?
I over-reached myself. As a director I rate myself five on 10 and I didn't have a proper grasp of cinema. Now, I see millions of flaws in it and am not very keen on making another film.
How do you rate the present Bollywood films?
The whole of Bollywood is deluding itself by believing that they have improved themselves. I don't understand the concept of films being remade. I was offered a role in Don but refused it. For present day film-makers, it's no more the love of cinema but the love of cinema that makes money.
And what about all the Indian nominations to the Oscars?
(Laughs) You think the Oscars, like the National Awards, aren't rigged?
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