MUMBAI, Jan 29, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Saif Ali Khan, bonafide Bollywood royalty
and star of Netflix hit “Sacred Games”, says India’s massive film industry
does not need international audiences to thrive. But that may not be a good
thing, he cautions.
The 49-year-old actor, whose latest film “Jawaani Jaaneman” (“Youthful
Lover”) is out on Friday, has starred in multiple blockbusters over the
years, from “Dil Chahta Hai” (“The Heart Desires”) in 2001 to “Tanhaji”,
released earlier this month.
Yet even as foreign films — like South Korean hit “Parasite” — find
viewers and awards overseas, Bollywood has remained on the fringes of global
entertainment, content to target India’s 1.3 billion population and millions
of others from the diaspora.
“The thing about our culture… is that we don’t really need verification,
validation, appreciation from an outside culture,” Khan told AFP in Mumbai.
“There are so many of us that if we just keep each other happy then we
don’t financially need anything,” he added.
But he warned that while such an insular approach may not harm Bollywood’s
bottom line, it could be “dangerous” for the industry’s development.
“Cinema is about people meeting, comparing, collaborating because the human
condition is quite similar. But if we isolate ourselves… I think we will
lose out on something because we will keep catering just to ourselves,” he
said.
The son of cricketing legend Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi — whose family ruled
the former princely state of Pataudi — and actress Sharmila Tagore, Khan has
never shied away from taking risks, straddling Bollywood and art-house cinema
during his decades-long career.
Even so, the opportunity to play troubled policeman Sartaj Singh in “Sacred
Games” in 2018 was a turning point.
“I think Sartaj Singh did a lot for me. People who don’t usually watch
Hindi films watched ‘Sacred Games’… and working with all those people in
that environment helped my acting a lot,” he said.
– Bollywood ‘renaissance’ –
The first big name from Bollywood to embrace digital entertainment, Khan
said the ambition displayed by Netflix and others has the potential to upend
the status quo, even in movie-mad India.
“Historically the money has been in the big screen, at least in India,” he
said, “so a lot of mainstream actors… would think twice before doing
television”.
But streaming services are “challenging that notion”, he said, while also
offering actors greater opportunities and contributing to a “renaissance” in
the industry.
For his part, he has played everything from a commitment-shy chef in the
2005 hit “Salaam Namaste” to a murderous drifter in the 2006 black comedy
“Being Cyrus” to a Shakespearean villain in “Omkara”, an Indian adaptation of
“Othello”.
Describing today’s Bollywood as a “big umbrella” that accommodates art-
house cinema, crowd-pleasing “masala” musicals, low-key comedies and even
zombie movies, Khan said the variety helps him “feel sane”.
“There’s something always to be said for something that challenges you
mentally or makes you feel that you are going into some territory that is
interesting… I would like to mix it up as much as possible.”
– Risky business –
His latest movie is an out-and-out entertainer, but even here, Khan has
departed from the norm by playing father to a 21-year-old woman in an
industry where leading men in their fifties routinely romance decades-younger
actresses on screen.
Yet, despite his openness to experiment with roles, Khan says there are
areas where he feels nervous to tread, such as politics, echoing concerns
shared by many actors who steer clear of expressing opinions on divisive
issues.
With India gripped by a wave of protests against the government’s new
citizenship law, some have bucked convention by speaking out, most notably
female superstar Deepika Padukone earlier this month.
But Khan, who is married to top actress Kareena Kapoor, says he prefers to
be apolitical.
When actors speak out on political topics, all too often, “the issue is
completely ignored and the actor who said it is highlighted and abused and
trolled,” he said.
In some cases when religious radicals have taken offence at an actor’s
comments, stars have faced boycott calls and threats, he said. Theatres have
also been attacked, putting livelihoods at risk.
“You have to think five times before you endanger other people.”