'I don't like the word 'Bollywood'

Curtains up

To kickstart the eighth edition of the Bengaluru Film Festival, veteran actress Jaya Bachchan spoke to media persons, students and movie enthusiasts at Orion Mall. Known to be vocal, her crisp and sharp answers got cheers from the audience.

On being asked what role politics plays in the creative field and her venture into politics, she smartly disassociated from the titled of a ‘politician’ and said that it’s up to the government to facilitate and not interfere or curb the freedom of filmmakers. And when discussions about intolerance came up, she said, “I think India is a bit too tolerant,” before moving on to censorship. Here, again, she mentioned that there should be different categories for films when censoring them and that dictating a film’s content is an unreasonable request.

When someone pointed out that Bollywood gets a larger platform in terms of world cinema and is generally associated with Indian cinema, Jaya corrected, “Hindi cinema, I don’t like the word ‘Bollywood’. And I don’t think that’s true; it might seem like that to us here but regional films are the ones that are getting more exposure.”

On a more personal note, she said that she always wanted a South Indian daughter-in-law. “I find that the women down south are more cultured, traditional and know how to carry themselves.” Jaya also got her hands on how the Indian family system and said that it’s “unfortunate” that the joint family system isn’t popular anymore.