Television is better than films, feels Bachchan

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is all set to make his fiction debut on the small screen with 'Yudh', feels TV has better reach and it needs to be given more importance.

"TV needs to be given more importance, looked at more seriously. I understand content is the king on TV and whoever has the best content is going to succeed," the 71-year-old actor told reporters here today after ringing the bell at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Bachchan said with 800 channels competing with each other, it gives actors like him the impetus to do something different.

"I feel TV is better than films. My knowledge on this is very limited but the little that I know is that the turnover of TV in India is three times more than cinema. The reach, effect and the affect of TV has just about started," he added.

In 'Yudh' Bachchan plays a real estate baron. The actor has teamed up with a plethora of talent for the fiction show with big names like Anurag Kashyap and Shoojit Sircar assisting in the creative department, while Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sarika and Nawazuddin Siddiqui appearing as support cast.

When asked if he thinks TV is a safer proposition as compared to films, Bachchan said, "Nothing is safe in this world when you are in a creative field. We take precautions, there are times when you succeed and fail as well. This is a gamble that you have to take when you are in this field of art."

The actor, who is one of the most successful hosts on TV with 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', says he doesn't understand the TRP battle of the television world.

"I don't know how this works. I only know what I need to do when the camera goes on. There are other people who are more professional in this job like the directors and writers, who will come up with content that they feel is right, we just enact," he said.

Bachchan, who has worked with actress Preity Zinta in films like 'The Last Lear' and 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna', chose not to comment on the controversy involving her and industrialist ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia.

"I believe the matter is in court and it won't be proper on my part to comment on it," he added.