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Indian filmmakers need to tell stories for global audience: Ashok Amritraj | ||||
Nivedita Mishra (ITGD) | ||||
New Delhi, March 15, 2008 |
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From playing professional tennis in the international circuit to making it big in 'conservative' Hollywood, Ashok Amritraj, Chairman & CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment, has had quite a journey. Irrespective of how optimistic we in India think of our inroads into Hollywood, this is the man who has done us proud. In a chat with Nivedita Mishra, the Hollywood producer speaks of what the future holds for him and movies. As an outsider, was it difficult to find a toehold in Hollywood? From comparatively smaller films like School Spirits, Bloodstone to Original Sin, Bandits, Bringing Down the House...what has it been like? I started out in 1981. And I must say the first 5-6 years were very difficult breaking into the closed world of Hollywood. Nobody knew Asians there and while the Chinese have made their presence felt in the last 10 years, with us Asians the story was very different. I started with smaller films for HBO and then gradually moved on to bigger films. It has taken me 27 years to come to where I am today. The last 17 years have been very successful but the beginning was, as I said, very tough. Basically, 0.1 per cent of the people control the whole of it. That's like six studios calling the shots. You can imagine how difficult it must have been then. Today, my production house is among the top three studios after the six big ones I just mentioned. How different is Hyde Park from traditional Hollywood studios? Well, we are quite different in that we believe in making 'smart films'. Are you getting into production in India? Could you say something about your different ventures here? Let me first tell you what we are all about. Basically, we have four companies – Hyde Park Entertainment, Hyde Park Animation, Hyde Park International and now Hyde Park Asia to handle all our operations. Hyde Park Asia has just completed an English film, The Other End of the Line, starring a young South Indian actress Shreya Saran along with American actors. Then, I am hosting a show, Gateway in which we are scouting for new talent. Whoever gets selected will make a movie with me in Hollywood. Back in 1998 you produced a hit Tamil film, Jeans. Why didn't you produce anything after that? First, there was an emotional reason for making that film. You know, I have grown up in Madras and I wanted to make something here. But despite its success I realised it was getting tough dividing my time between Hollywood and India. That meant that I needed to concentrate on one and I chose to be known as a Hollywood producer. Then I realised that the distribution network here was really bad. There were no good distributors. Things were way too fragmented and there were too many obstacles to making a good film. Actually, a lot needs to done before any good work is done. Animation is the sunrise industry in India. Does it interest you? Animation in India is yet to hit it big. This sector has immense potential but there is no point in being relegated to doing services for the higher. What I mean is much of the work done here is of secondary nature. I mean not much ideation is happening here. What kind of stories are you looking at? Indian movies for long have been wrapped in Indian culture and milieu. What I am keen on is telling stories for the global audience. I mean there must be experiences here that people around the world can relate to. Those are the stories I am looking at. Which particular genre interests you? I am open to anything. I would have loved to make a "Gandhi" had I been around then. What would you like to tell Indian producers? All I'd say is take care of your product and don't do too much. How big is Bollywood in the developed world? I mean, we in India love to hear that Shah Rukh Khan is liked in Germany and Rajnikanth is loved in Japan. But what's the truth? You know it's one thing for stars to be popular and yet another for films to get popular and be watched. Individually, actors could be having fan followings there, but it is different with films. As I said, Indian films need to tell stories that all can relate to. |
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