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Bachchan’s retrospective in NY concludes
19th Apr 2005 22.22 IST
By Agencies

At the conclusion of the retrospective of his films in New York, Amitabh Bachchan , inarguably the most revered star of Bollywood, called for better marketing of Indian films in Western countries.

The 12-day retrospective of Bachchan’s films, organized by the famous Lincoln Center, ended today on a positive note.

During the retrospective period, Bachchan attended an event to promote his new film Waqt – A Race Against Time , addressed a news conference, interacted with the audience and formally became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF to propagate social causes.

Asked why Indian films have not made their presence felt among mainstream audiences in the Western world despite their reasonable popularity in several parts of the world, the star quipped that the reasons are language and marketing.

“It is the language problem. English is a universal language. They (Hollywood movie producers) have a very good marketing system,” he said.

“Indian film industry doesn't operate in a corporate fashion like the way Hollywood does.” Bachchan also cited cultural differences.

“Bollywood is a movement known to Americans only through satire,” he said. “That has to change.”

He called for a united action on the part of the Indian film industry in order to market Indian films better in the West.

When told that he was the best-known film star in the world, according to a BBC online poll held in 1999, Bachchan replied in lighter vein: “It was a small computer game where the computer went wrong.”

The star did not like the word Bollywood as he said it was coined by a journalist who might have been reluctant to write the phrase, Hindi language films or the Indian cinema. “We'll have to live with it now as it is in the Oxford dictionary,” he pointed out.

Bachchan ruled out the possibility of his re-entry into politics.

“Politics is a much more complicated game. And I was not suited for that,” he said.