Superficial entertainment dished out in popular Indian cinema and the televisions corrupting influence on cinema came under serious criticism of internationally acclaimed filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Friday.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Bengalooru International Film Festival 2008, Adoor also chose to dismiss the contention that Bollywood offered entertainment.
Films should be true studies of life that shared experiences, Adoor said and added that youngsters who grew up watching television in India were being prepared as a “bad audience for bad cinema”. The filmmaker was addressing reporters after the screening of his latest film Naalu Pennungal, based on the works of eminent Malayalam writer Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai.
Call for courses
Adoor pointed out that television, as a medium, had failed terribly to promote quality cinema in the country. Lamenting the notion that only cinema from the West was experimental and serious in nature, he called upon film clubs and universities to incorporate film appreciation and understanding courses in the curriculum.
The Indian Panorama section of BIFFES 2008 — titled Chitrabhaarathi — opened on Friday with Naalu Pennungal. The section was inaugurated by Adoor, along with Jnanpeeth Awardee U R Ananthamurthy. BIFFES 2008 will be held till January 10.
