At the 13th Wharton India Economic Forum in Philadelphia, held last night, Abhishek Bachchan stated that the Indian film industry was not waiting agog for an Academy Award despite the Oscar success for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, a British film based on an Indian subject.
"I do not think the Indian film industry is looking at getting an Oscar," he said. "The Indian film industry is very proud and happy of its own industry awards and it (filmmaking) is about reaching out to the audiences and entertaining them, not about getting an award.
"The Oscars are awards for Hollywood and by Hollywood. Sweetly, they have a foreign film section (under) which they award honour certain films which they think deserve to be awarded. With due respect (I must say), that does not mean it is the best film. That means recognition by the American Film Academy," he continued.
"Any recognition by anybody is always humbling," Abhishek added. "But the question is why should everybody be so obsessed with the Oscars? With full respect (to the award), I want to say that we all love and respect Hollywood but that is not the biggest thing for us back home."
Text: Suman Mozumder | Photographs: Paresh Gandhi
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