Indian cinema, Hollywood’s eastern equivalent: Saif Ali Khan

Indian cinema, which is celebrating its centenary year, has a unique identity and should rival Hollywood as its eastern equivalent, says actor-producer Saif Ali Khan who does not believe in any attempts to cross over.

Indian cinema, which is celebrating its centenary year, has a unique identity and should rival Hollywood as its eastern equivalent, says actor-producer Saif Ali Khan who does not believe in any attempts to cross over.

“Our eastern identity is fundamentally different from theirs. We should look at taking our movies from India to the Middle East, or to places like Egypt and Spain as the audience there is suited to our movies. And we should rival Hollywood as an eastern equivalent, if ‘western’ is what they call themselves,” he says.

With over two decades in films and with veteran actor Sharmila Tagore as his mother, Saif does have a fair idea of how and what kind of cinema clicks. And he also enjoys watching a lot of international cinema.

The 42-year-old actor, who completed his studies in England, believes Iran and Iraq make “great cinema”.

Coming back to Hindi cinema, Saif says the Indian viewer isn’t too easy to please. “We don’t really have a like-minded audience. It’s difficult... and despite being so populous, we have very few writers and directors,” he says.

“Life is also about niche pursuits,” says the actor, pointing out to his latest production, Go Goa Gone — a zombie comedy, a genre less heard of in Indian cinema. Saif, who plays a zombie killer in the movie, guarantees it is a “more mainstream film than you’ll imagine”.