Imtiaz Ali: Filmmakers need to be like Ved Vyas, Valmiki or Homer

The 'Tamasha' and 'Rockstar' maker hopes to change the trend of his films picking up with viewers years after their theatrical release and instead make them successful on opening weekend itself

Imtiaz Ali Imtiaz Ali | Facebook

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali made an interesting point about the films he makes and the films he has seen, when speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival, in a session hosted by film journalist and critic Anupama Chopra.

"For me, the important films are not Tamasha, Rockstar, Highway and all of that. The important films are the films I saw when I was not a filmmaker," he said.

The context for this statement is that some of Imtiaz Ali's films have a huge following, which his fans strongly defend on social media. He recalled his days growing up as a film buff, saying that he used to do the same — protest if "somebody says something wrong about Sholay."

"The films that you watch are your own. The films that you make are just like houses that you live in on rent," he added.

Ali, whose last film was Amar Singh Chamkila, released on Netflix, wants to change the trend of his films picking up with viewers years after their theatrical release. He brought it up when asked about his films looked at as being ahead of their time.

"There was a girl in the lift right now and she said, 'Sir, do you think you are ahead of your time?' I am trying very hard not to be. And this whole thing of your movie not doing very well on the first day of release and then it does better later... I am working to change that. I am trying to learn all the tricks possible."

He attributes this late popularity behaviour of his films to his "incapacity" as a filmmaker. And this, he says, isn't a case of false humility. "What happens is, it is your inability to tell the story simply that makes it seem like if you watch it three times, you really enjoy it most. It is my inability and I am working to dispel that. So that every layer, everything that one enjoys in a movie, why can't it be seen and enjoyed in the first viewing? It should be. But for that, I need to have the ability of the storyteller to tell it simply," he said.

Comparing his films to the Mahabharata, Ali feels they are as easy to comprehend as that immensely popular story penned by Ved Vyas. "I am not making anything bigger or more complicated than that. If that can be understood, then my movies can also be understood. There is no such thing as rocket science. But, obviously, as a filmmaker and as a storyteller, one needs to try to have that ability that Ved Vyas, Valmiki (Ramayana) or Homer (Greek poet behind Iliad and The Odyssey) and all of these people have had."

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