Over the years, Paresh Rawal has lit up the silver screen with some stellar performances. The actor recently made a a comeback to Gujarati cinema after 40 years with Dear Father. In an interview with us, the veteran actor opens up about how we need to make films with a global appeal and why the enigma associated with stars is vanishing due to social media. Excerpts:

The pandemic has brought about a huge shift in the way things are perceived and consumed. Those big-ticket films, mega openings and star-driven success will become a thing of the past as cinema has lost its magic in a number of ways. The mindset of the audience seems to have changed. If the film industry wants to bring the audience back into the theatres, they will have to make some big efforts. Expensive tickets, food and beverages, parking, etc. make movie-watching an expensive affair, and a middle-class family can’t afford it. Masses can make or break a film. So, we need to make things affordable for them, for our survival.

Today, OTT has become a safe medium for filmmakers to release their films. They get their money back and after that, it’s not their headache to see how the film is doing. But they have also made things easier for small-budget, content-driven films. Such films now have a huge platform to reach out to a bigger audience.

Earlier, film stars carried a sense of enigma. We saw them only on the big screen and their personalities made the audience watch them in awe. But that has completely vanished due to social media. Now, the stars are everywhere all the time. We know what they do in their vanity vans, at their homes, on their vacations. There is no enigma left, which is hurting their stardom. Stars must maintain a certain distance. Otherwise, the exclusivity of a star is lost.