The statement 'cinema is a director's art' is something which filmmakers across the globe believe in. However, there are only a few who can claim to live it - and filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan happens to be one of them. Here he is, opening up about his idea of cinema, how the art has evolved over the years, the difference between commercial and art house films, our fixation with box office numbers, Oscar awards, and more...

How do you rate the quality of Indian films these days in terms of storytelling?
The approach towards films, irrespective of their genre, is changing everywhere. There was a time when the popular films of yesteryears looked like photographed theatre, where artistes waited for their chance to appear on screen.

Do you think it is necessary for a filmmaker to get technically updated to narrate a story effectively?
One has to definitely master the techniques. When you shoot a sequence, it is not just the cameraman who should be aware of the kind of lens to be used for it, the filmmaker, too, must be adept in choosing a lens or the frame he/she wants. In fact, a director should know everything about editing, framing, composing and other technical aspects. He must also have an understanding of not just the characters in a frame, but also about the background music, the light and shade in it. Be it an art film or a commercial one, these have to be the criteria for a director.

Do you feel there's an unwanted obsession with numbers these days? Like it has become a prestige of sorts to enter 100 crore, 200 crore clubs, and so on...
The problem is, the makers, in such cases are quoting budget, and are not bothered about the subject. All of a sudden, budget has become very important, which I find very strange. For big-budget films, they spent on publicity as much they have spent on production. They release in more than 1,000 screens. The recent Baahubali, was one such phenomenon. For some of such projects, the makers join hands with newspapers for marketing and the readers assume those to be good films. This kind of blind publicity works, but not always.

Do you follow films of different languages regularly? Any attempts which impressed you in the recent times?
I used to watch a lot of films when I was a college student. For the last several years, I have been watching only select films. I saw Marathi film Court, which was impressive. Newton, too, was very engaging.

Which cinema industry in India do you think is evolving?
I can't make any generalised statements, in fact, good films, sometimes come from unexpected quarters. Bengali cinema used to be the best in the country once, but it has lost its magic. Malayalam cinema still has a few filmmakers who make sensible movies. More than others, I think it is Maharashtra which comes up with great films. The state government has been very supportive. Marathi cinema was an industry which was suppressed by Bollywood for a long time.

Do you think the monotonous attempts in Bollywood is one of the reasons why people in Maharashtra are slowly turning to Marathi films?
I don't know whether that can be attributed as a reason. The main reason, according to me, is the superb support from the state government. They made it mandatory that Marathi films should be screened in several theatres.

There have been various controversies regarding the strict monitoring of Censor Board till recently. What is your take on it?
The crazy person behind all those is out now. His time is over. Prasoon Joshi is a well-known name in the industry. I heard even the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) also got a new person to head - Mr Anupam Kher. He, too, is a good choice. So seems like right people are now being brought at the helm.

In India, we have this craze for Oscars and often 'struggle' to meet Hollywood standards. How do you view it?
Oscar Awards are decided by Hollywood industry, it is not an international award. It is presented by themselves. Since American films are marketed all over the world, it has been made a huge affair. Just to make their event acceptable to more parts of the world, they started Best Foreign Film category sometime ago. An average film from India has least chances of winning an Oscar. People here dream of winning one. But the fact is, you need to have agents to show those films to concerned people, who are also potential voters. Several screenings have to be organised for it. So, in reality, it is foolish to expect Oscars for Indian films.