'Filmmaking is beyond entertaining or educating the audience'

DELHI: Zoya Akhtar believes that her job is to narrate stories in the best possible way, without the obligation of educating or entertaining the audience.

"I am just telling a story that interests me, and that's what my job is. For example, If I am telling you a joke, I want to tell it in a way that makes you

laugh the hardest. Sometimes it will have something deeper, and I hope that it gets to you. The other times, it would be just funny and will lift your spirit for that afternoon. So I don't think there is any hard and fast rule," stated Zoya when asked whether she belongs to the category of directors who consider movies as a medium to educate people or the ones who use it as a mere platform to entertain the audience.

"But having said that, a filmmaker's morality, value system, politics, and world-view comes out in any story that he/she tells. Whatever you see on the screen, is the reflection of his thinking and mentality," she further said, adding, "Above and beyond anything, the main intention should be to engage the audience. People are paying for the tickets and giving you 2.5 hours of their life. They are sitting in a dark room, staring at a screen, and you have complete control from start to finish. So, engage them... and that doesn't mean make them laugh. There is a difference between these two things."

Zoya was in the Capital for the Red Carpet launch of MAMI Year Round Program – The Delhi Edition. The event was hosted by PVR ltd in the presence of other board of directors including filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, and Anupama Chopra.