'Television is better than films'

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, who is all set to make his fictional debut on the small screen with ‘Yudh’, feels that television has a better reach and needs to be given more importance.

“Television needs to be given more importance at looked at more seriously. I understand that content is the king on television and whoever has the best content is going to succeed,” said the 71-year-old actor.

He added that with 800 channels competing with each other, it gives actors like him the impetus to do something different.

“I feel that television is better than films. My knowledge on this is very limited but the little that I know is that the turnover of television in India is three times more than cinema. Its reach, effect and affect 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 show with big names like Anurag Kashyap and Shoojit Sircar assisting in the creative department while Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sarika and Nawazuddin Siddiqui appear as support cast.

When asked if he thinks that television is a safer proposition than 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 television with ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, says that 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 come up with content that they feel is right which we just enact,” he said.