Recently Shah Rukh Khan spoke about the entertainment industry, specifically about ways to increase the exposure of Indian films to international audiences. He was speaking at the HT International Summit in New Delhi and had several ideas to change and transform the way movies are presented and made.
First he said, “I think films need to be shorter because we cannot impose our timings on others. Two hours is long enough. Brevity is the soul of creation. Brevity is the soul of telling a story.”
Adding, “See, I am short and I am entertaining!”
He went on to say that in marketing, Hindi films are behind the West and that their techniques should be studied. Adding that Hollywood truly understand how to market their goods, i.e. films and that Bollywood should take their cues from them.
SRK also said that they way Hindi films are made needs a total restructuring, “We need to create infrastructure for the entertainment industry. We need to create production houses, some nice studios, which are not dusty and not ugly. We need some fantastic post-production units. Like the IT industry, we need to create units for entertainment and call people to use it.”
If some changes are made within the industry he feels that the amazing world of Bollywood films, as they are in essence, will be accepted with open arms throughout the world. “I’m tired of talking of crossover and globalisation of Indian cinema. I’m tired of the whole idea of trying to make crossover film by selling sadness. I think it’s time to sell happiness and celebration. I work in the field of imagination, which sells dreams. I feel India can be a global entertainment portal. We have a nearly 100-year-old entertainment industry, different kinds of music, amazing amount of languages, fantastic culture, technology, technicians and an amazing amount of entrepreneurs who are taking India forward.”
