It’s concerning that youngsters prefer English films, TV shows: Irrfan Khan

Actor Irrfan says that the entire industry needs better stories so we don’t lose our audience to Hollywood.

Actor Irrfan Khan believes the international film and TV industry is taking over the Indian market. He is worried to see youngsters switching to entertainment content made in the West as opposed to Indian content.

Actor Irrfan Khan says Hollywood is slowly taking over the Indian market.(Photo: Shivam Saxena/HT)

“Kids prefer to watch English movies and sitcoms over our own films and series. It’s a grave concern. The West is slowly taking over the Indian market,” says Irrfan, a renowned name in Hollywood, having done popular films such as Life of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008). He will soon be seen alongside American star Tom Hanks in Inferno.

Irrfan Khan in a still from Inferno. (YouTube)

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The 45-year-old says more importance should be given to stories coming from India and not West, as he believes that Indian adaptations of popular American TV shows such as Modern Family and Prison Break won’t make much of an impact here.

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“We need stories that talk about India. We need content that we can relate to and only that can generate interest in people. And it’s not like we have a dearth of stories in India. Just like them, we, too, have very powerful stories from our society as well. The problem is that we don’t have storytellers and we need more of them,” says Irrfan.