‘Internationally, Bollywood is seen as a freak show’

Independent films like Masaan, Court, Chauthi Koot and Titli have of late made India proud at film festivals globally, but actor Ranvir Shorey says Indian cinema still has a long way to go to make its presence felt since at international platforms mainstream Bollywood films are still considered a ‘freak show’.

“With the production of such (indie) films, it’s a small step to a great journey that lies ahead of us, because as self-sufficient as Bollywood is on the international platform, it is still seen as some kind of a novelty or a freak show,” Ranvir told media on the sidelines of fourth Dharamsala International Film Festival (DIFF), which opened with his latest release Titli. 

“When we have films which speak the international language and hold the international grammar of cinema, it affects people and communicates with them worldwide. It’s something which we 

desperately need as a film industry,” he added.

Released on October 30, Titli, helmed by debutant director Kanu Behl, was earlier screened in the Un 

Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes International Film Festival.

“We are making some dent now in this period, but still we have some way to go... Internationally, there was a time when Iranian and Korean cinema became a rage of the world cinema, we still need to reach that point where we take the audience of world cinema strongly,” he said.

However, Ranvir rued that films like Titli, which was co-produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF) and Dibakar Banerjee, “don’t get support from the big studios”.