'Only commercial films get showcased at Indian festivals': Adoor lashes out at govt

Mumbai: National award-winning filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan today alleged that the attitude of the government towards filmmakers was ‘destructive’ and ‘not supportive’.

"The attitude of the government towards filmmakers is destructive and not supportive. I have observed glee on the faces of government officials who know that they are destroying our creative work," he said.

The Kerala-born filmmaker was speaking on ‘Bollywood is Not Indian Cinema’ at the 'Gateway Litfest' organised at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) here.

"I have seen only commercial movies getting selected in 'Indian Panorama' section, which is actually a gateway for foreigners to know about our movies. I wonder about the understanding level of the head of juries who select the movies for this section. All we (filmmakers) expect is selection of good movies for a right cause," he said.

"I have seen some movies already shown in some foreign film festivals, but not finding any mention in the Indian Panorama category," he said.

About the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) and its support to films, the veteran said, "The body was meant for supporting movies in various Indian languages. Unfortunately, various suggestions made to the government were discarded over a period of time and now NFDC has lost its purpose."

"There was a practice of showing movies from various languages on 'Doordarshan' under the regional language category. I tried to change its name, but the government was highly reluctant towards it. Finally, the practice (of showing regional films) was stopped," the Malayalam filmmaker added.