A pinch of Polish spice for bland old Bollywood
Young lovers crooning to the sounds of a sitar with thousands of extras leaping, twirling and gyrating in the background is hardly the image Polish film has garnered over the years, but that may soon change if Indian directors heed the advice of Vinod Khanna, an Indian actor-turned-politician. With its superb locations and studios, its number of highly qualified technicians as well as low production costs, Khanna says Poland could prove the perfect set for Bollywood filmmakers looking to spice up an industry that is losing its taste for originality.
"I will encourage people in Bollywood to come here for shooting as they will find qualified technicians and the cost will be much lower compared to Britain and Switzerland which are favorite locales with our directors," he told the Indo-Asian News Service, adding that Poland had a history of making great films. The pride of Poland's movie community, the Łodź Film School, boasts alumni such as Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi.
Khanna also criticized the Indian film industry for a lack of professionalism, saying filmmakers were too dependent on old, overused themes, and afraid to move away from formulaic scripts.
Some estimates value India's film industry (the largest in the world in terms of films made - around 800 a year) at about $1.4 (zł.4.5) billion, a large chunk of which is made outside the legal economy. Filmmaking there has the reputation of being highly informal, personality-oriented and family dominated.
"Professionalism has to be imbibed in a vigorous way," said Khanna, who in the 1970s was considered one of the most popular heroes in Indian film. Now an MP for India's BJP party, Khanna was in Warsaw last week to attend a convention of the newly formed Democratic Party (PD).
Khanna himself may be the first to write the recipe for blending the boisterous atmosphere of Indian film with a Polish style sometimes criticized for being too somber. Already, he has declared his intention to move back into film, this time as a director. "I am contemplating writing a script on modern-day diplomatic life. If I succeed I would love to direct that movie," he says.
And for a flagging Polish industry hungry for funding, a hearty helping of an Indian industry that employs some six million people is a mouth-watering prospect.
"I will encourage people in Bollywood to come here for shooting as they will find qualified technicians and the cost will be much lower compared to Britain and Switzerland which are favorite locales with our directors," he told the Indo-Asian News Service, adding that Poland had a history of making great films. The pride of Poland's movie community, the Łodź Film School, boasts alumni such as Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi.
Khanna also criticized the Indian film industry for a lack of professionalism, saying filmmakers were too dependent on old, overused themes, and afraid to move away from formulaic scripts.
Some estimates value India's film industry (the largest in the world in terms of films made - around 800 a year) at about $1.4 (zł.4.5) billion, a large chunk of which is made outside the legal economy. Filmmaking there has the reputation of being highly informal, personality-oriented and family dominated.
"Professionalism has to be imbibed in a vigorous way," said Khanna, who in the 1970s was considered one of the most popular heroes in Indian film. Now an MP for India's BJP party, Khanna was in Warsaw last week to attend a convention of the newly formed Democratic Party (PD).
Khanna himself may be the first to write the recipe for blending the boisterous atmosphere of Indian film with a Polish style sometimes criticized for being too somber. Already, he has declared his intention to move back into film, this time as a director. "I am contemplating writing a script on modern-day diplomatic life. If I succeed I would love to direct that movie," he says.
And for a flagging Polish industry hungry for funding, a hearty helping of an Indian industry that employs some six million people is a mouth-watering prospect.
