Gopal Datt: Our cinema lacks connection with literature

Mumbai, Feb 5 (IANS) Actor Gopal Datt, who has narrated Harishankar Parsai’s classic story ‘Ek Film Katha’, has said that our cinema lacks connection to the literature right now, and that it is very important to find that missing link.

The actor, who is known for his work in films like ‘Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai’, ‘Tere Naam’, ‘Samrat & Co.’ and ‘Filmistaan’, recently reconnected with theatre and featured in the Seema Pahwa directorial, ‘Koi Baat Chale.’

This evocative literary anthology produced by Zee Theatre showcased six stories by iconic writers, and Gopal narrated ‘Ek Film Katha’.

The actor believes that the younger generation of filmmakers should maintain a connection with the works of eminent writers like Harishankar Parsai.

“What’s lacking in our cinema right now is a connection to literature. Old films still had that connection but now it is lost. The younger generation has no idea about the great writers in Indian literature. It is very important to find that missing link, that missing connection,” he said.

Gopal shared that ‘Koi Baat Chale’ is a very good effort to revisit the stories of great writers like Saadat Hasan Manto, Munshi Premchand, and Parsai.

“Reading them will help people to rediscover India’s countless literary treasures,” he said.

The anthology has now been translated into Kannada and Telugu.

Gopal further shared that ‘Ek Film Katha’ will resonate with a diverse audience because it satirises populist cinema that churns out plot after plot with a gallant hero, a heroine in distress, and a cliched villain.

He firmly believes that the audiences in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka will connect with ‘Ek Film Katha’.

“We know there is a trend to remake Bollywood films into South Indian languages and vice versa. Overall, Indian cinema is the same everywhere. Many typical masala films have been remade in regional languages without many changes in the basic plot. It’s the same everywhere. So, they’ll 100 per cent relate to it,” he said.

Gopal is a National School of Drama (NSD) alumnus, and began his artistic journey on stage in 1999 and was greatly influenced by the brilliance of theatre icon B.V. Karanth.

The teleplay can be watched from February 11 on Dish TV Rangmanch Active, D2H Rangmanch Active, and Airtel Spotlight.

–IANS

sp/kvd