"My God" producer: Hollywood thinks it is a movie god and it is difficult to impress Indians

Original title: Interview with the producer of "My God": Hollywood recognizes itself as a God but it is difficult to impress Indians

with praise for "divine films" and "phenomenal". Raji Kumar Hilani, director of "My God", disagreed. In his view, no film should boast about itself or remain complacent, but should remain in awe of creation and humanity. Although "My God" uses the original cast members of "The Three Silly Ridiculous Bollywood", Hilani said,"There are two stories. The last one satirizes the Indian education system, and this step explores Indian religious beliefs. I didn't give my own answer, but filmed it for the audience to make their own judgment."

Sure enough, in India, where religious issues are very sensitive, after the release of "My God", which dared to challenge religious conflicts and religious discrimination, it encountered interference from various religious figures and was even collectively boycotted by some Buddhists. Hilani personally confirmed: "We had expected this situation from the beginning and were indeed a little worried, but fortunately the audience understood what we were trying to express. Ordinary audiences especially liked this movie, and only a few religious extremists were unhappy."

Hilani said: "I will never shoot a superhero. Things like 3D and special effects are just a means of realizing movies. The most important thing about movies is to impress people, and the most important thing to impress people is to tell the audience a good story." Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who was traveling with Hilani, also agreed: "Hollywood is used to throwing money everywhere and thinking it is the god of movies, but Hollywood rarely moves people in India."

Thanks to the increasingly frequent, friendly and constructive interactions between the two governments, the film industry of the two countries, which are affiliated to the cultural industry, has also begun to engage in deeper and more aspects of cooperation. Director Hilani said that he was actually writing a script co-production between China and India, while producer Chopra said that the opportunities for co-production are unprecedented, but "the biggest difficulty lies in cultural integration."

Talking about the theme: Religious themes are very controversial, but the audience very much likes

the hilarious story of "My God" created by the original cast of "Three Silly". It tells the story of the alien PK played by Amir Khan, who by accident lost his return to the spacecraft. The remote control can only stay on earth, laugh at the world's various tastes in an extremely "harsh" environment, and compete with many "magic artists" in India. Director Rajkumar Hilani said that although the film appears to be a film with dominant comedy elements, it actually discusses very serious topics such as human nature and religion."We have always believed that a story must impress people's hearts before it can be moved to the big screen. If there is no good story, then you will not impress the audience.

Regarding the film's large number of religious elements, Hilani said that it was boycotted by some Buddhists in India at the beginning of its release, but "the vast majority of the people very much like and support this film." As of now,"My God" has become the box office champion in the history of Bollywood films, achieving astonishing results of 3 billion rupees locally and 100 million US dollars globally, setting a new Bollywood box office record set by the action film "Phantom Car God: The Passion of the Devil", also starring Amir Khan a year ago.

Talking about classics: Indian youth are actively striving and will never forget the past

about 3D, CGI computer special effects and other methods popular in the world's film industry. Director Hilani said: He has actually been studying this technology for a long time and will not reject this technology. If the movies to be filmed in the future are very suitable for 3D presentation,"then why not bring a better experience to the audience?" However, he insisted that 3D and special effects are just a means to realize a movie and cannot be the whole of a movie."In my opinion, touching stories are more important than anything else, because they can capture the audience's emotions."

When talking about the current generation of Indian audiences and young filmmakers, director Hilani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra have always said that they are very proud of contemporary young people in India because they are proactive and enterprising, absorbing new things without forgetting their own culture and traditions. Taking watching movies and making movies as an example,"Young people are still watching Satyajit Rey (Indian film master) films and reliving classics such as" Song of the Earth "and" Song of the River "."

Talking about co-production: China and India are win-win. The biggest difficulty is cultural integration.

Talking about the topic of co-production of China and Indian films, producer Chopra obviously talks more than Hilani. Hilani said: From the director's perspective, it is best to make co-productions within a cultural scope that you can understand."It is best to make the story easy for both actors and audiences to understand, otherwise you will encounter difficulties in acceptance." Mr. Chopra believes that obviously co-production is "the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, but simply bringing together a crew of two countries will not ensure success. The biggest difficulty is writing a story about cultural integration, otherwise it is likely to produce a bad movie."

Mainland China is scrambling to adapt myths, legends and literary classics such as "Journey to the West" and "List of Gods". In response, director Hilani frankly said,"I have no plans to make mythological films or costume films. My personal interest is not here." The producer, Mr. Chopra, responded: India, like China, is a country with a profound culture and a long history, but whether myths can be adapted into a movie still depends on "whether the story is appropriate or not. Blindly adapting the movie is blasphemy and disrespect for culture."

Talking about competition: Hollywood is accustomed to throwing money and thinking of itself as the god of movies.

Unlike China movie fans who generally prefer to watch Hollywood blockbusters, Indian audiences prefer to watch movies made locally in Bollywood. The box office champion in Indian film history is "My God" directed by director Hilani and starred by Amir Khan. It has exceeded a new record of 30 billion rubles since its release. Director Hilani disagrees with the competition from Hollywood blockbusters: "Hollywood has its own way, we have our own way. I will never shoot a superhero, but the movies we make are more touching."

Regarding the unimpeded expansion of blockbusters such as "Speed and Furious 7" and "Avengers 2" in China, producer Mr. Chopra first said that he did not understand the China market, but "we all know that if we go head-on, no country's film in the world can beat Hollywood. Hollywood is used to throwing money everywhere, often with a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, and thinks it's the god of movies, but we insist on making distinctive and touching movies. This is why Indian fans prefer Indian movies."

Editor: queenie