Actor Irrfan, who has had the opportunity to work in both Hollywood and Bollywood films, feels that the Indian film industry needs to work on the way they market their films. “There are few areas we still need to work on, like the release of the film. In America, they work on what kind of audience is going to watch this film and they release accordingly,” says Irrfan, adding, “Here in India, we find a formula and we apply that formula to every film. We have similar ticket rates, and a similar way of promoting and releasing it. The ticket rates for a Rs. 100 crore budget film and Rs. 5 crore budget film are the same. We really need to work on this system.”

Irrfan became a prominent face in international cinema after acting in films such as Warrior, A Mighty Heart, New York, I Love You, and Danny Boyle’s multiple Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire. His most recent release is filmmaker Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi. The 45-year-old star feels Hollywood films always have a hidden meaning in them.

“In our films, what’s on the surface is what it is... there’s no layering. But if you take big Hollywood films, there is something they are trying to suggest to the audience,” says Irrfan. “When an intellectual person watches Slumdog Millionaire, he relates to it in a completely different way, and when a child will watch Life Of Pi, he will take it differently. That’s what we need to strive and that’s what our next generation is going to do,” adds the actor.