Bollywood has been under the scanner in the recent times, but veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai believes that nothing can change the love in the minds of people for Bollywood. “Hindi film industry tells us stories of our heritage, culture, and mythologies. Public knows this and know that we always do what is best for them and our country,” he elucidates.

A lot has been debated about nepotism in Bollywood. Ghai, who has been a part of the fraternity for five decades, says, “Over the years, the Indian film industry has grown to be one of the world’s largest. This meant that competition is intense, and that the efforts that go into creating each film is massive. In this scenario, I don’t believe that nepotism has survived. Instead, it’s been replaced by a system of merit, that sees the best and most deserving person.”

Ask him his opinion about the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and he says, “The spirit of any Censor Board should not be to curb the freedom of expression of any artiste but to certify various content into different, suitable categories. The government does prefer to set up self-governing bodies on censoring the content offered via different mediums like cinema, TV or any other form of exhibition, when they receive forceful reactions from public in general regarding certain specific content, which may be hurtful, inciting negative emotions or have malign intent. Owing to this reason, some guidelines have to be formulated under the supervision of censor board, which I guess is to maintain a fair balance in the content that is offered.”