Abhishek Bachchan recently shared his take on the Indian film industry and recent movies being made. At the ET Now Business Global Summit, he opened up on the word ‘Indovation’ and its significance with regards to entertainment in India.
When asked how the Indian film industry can compete with film industries like in South Korea, Abhishek said that there is no competition. He explained, “We’re the biggest film industry in the world. I’m not saying this from arrogance, this is data. It’s a very interesting question because we always talk about, like you just said, the Korean television and film industry which do unbelievably amazing work but let’s look at the numbers.”
Adding further, Abhishek delved into viewership data. “What is their viewership? What are those numbers? They will pale in comparison to Indians going to movies. So we have the numbers already so what kind of numbers are you trying to achieve to become that fad? I don’t think we want to be a fad. We are the largest film industry in the world. We make close to a thousand films a year, let alone countless streaming products. Our population is the largest in the world currently. Internet users thereby showing that we have access to digital content is, I would guess, possibly the highest in the world, if not the second highest,” he noted.
He further said, “Our numbers are just so large that I think it’s erroneous for us to say, oh when are we going to become like, when are we going to create our squid game? We make Dhurandhar. Look at the numbers, look at the amount of tickets sold. That’s going to outshine any other show, any other movie. So it’s a matter of numbers. I think the most important thing in art or in cinema is you have to be true to yourself. I remember growing up, when I was in college, there was a wonderful film called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that just came out. It’s a Chinese film and it went crazy worldwide and it just took Chinese cinema and, you know, their wonderful storytelling to the West. What was wonderful about it is they never tried to cater to the Western market.”
He spoke about how Indian films should celebrate being Indian and culturally vivid. “I think the minute we compromise our Indianness, I think we lose out because they’ve already got their own cinema. If you’re looking at capturing the West, be it Europe or America, which are very unique, I mean they’re very unique consuming patterns for their cinema as well. But say if we’re talking about Hollywood, you want to go there because that’s the biggest numbers.
They’ve already got movies that cater to their sensibility. Why would they like RRR? Because we were so unabashedly Indian about it. And I think that’s what we have to do in our cinema. You have to be yourself. You have to love the pomp and pageantry of Indian cinema, the melodrama of Indian cinema, the poetic justice of Indian cinema. And I think that’s what we have to take to the world and that’s what’s going to set you apart.”
Abhishek also opened up about the word ‘Indovation.’ He noted that the word means innovation in India. “Having said that, be very content with how you grow your local market because the numbers are there. You can’t ignore India today. We’re a force to be reckoned with in every sphere, you know. If you see, I think it’s wonderful. Actually, I just thought of this. I read this wonderful word, innovation. Have you heard that? I read it a couple of weeks ago. I was reading an essay somewhere and innovation is innovation for India. The world is innovating for India because now they realize that, you know, we need to cater to them as well, you know,” he said.
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