Stars now preferred over content in movies: Kader Khan

In today’s era, people don’t look for perfection in a movie but superstars like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, veteran actor-writer Kader Khan has said, adding a lot of good movies “suffer” due to that on the box office.

“Today, people don’t look for elegance and the perfection in any movie, all they care for is whether or not the actors like Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan are present in it. A lot of good movies suffer due to this,” the actor told IANS in an interview.

“I would appeal that if the content of the movie is good, treat it like any Salman or Shah Rukh Khan movie,” he added.

Kader Khan is making a comeback in the Bollywood after a long time with forthcoming movie “Hogaya Dimaagh Ka Dahi”.

Asked about the changes he has witnessed in the film industry, he said: “The industry has undergone a tremendous change — both in terms of film writing and standard. It’s not that the standard of film industry has gone down, but yes, there’s a lot of change here now.

“A lot of talented directors like Rajkumar Hirani, Vishal Bhardwaj and Kabir Khan have come in the B-town of late,” he said.

Kader Khan, who has regaled the audience with his comic side in films like “Himmatwala”, “Aankhen” and “Coolie No.1” among several other entertainers, feels that the way India is being projected in the movies now is not good.

“The films starring youngsters showcase western culture. Our India is not the way it is being projected,” he said.

On Bollywood’s demand for a Padma award for him, the 79-year-old actor, who has been part of the industry for over four decades, said: “If the government feels that I have done good work it. will honour me. It’s people’s love that they are demanding it for me.”

He also recalled how his friends denied to work with him due to his health issues.

“People whom I had great expectations from, denied to work with me thinking that I could not work anymore because of my health problems. That really hurt me,” he said.

Kader Khan is all praise for Fauzia Arshi, director of “Hogaya Dimaagh Ka Dahi”.

“I decided to maintain distance from the industry and pledged that I would never come back to it before Fauzia approached me with this movie. She said I should come back and encouraged me to do that.

“We worked together very affectionately and throughout the movie, she never let me feel that I was ill. She kept boosting my confidence. The whole crew of the movie was excellent and I just loved working with them,” he said.

He also thanked superstar Amitabh Bachchan for announcing his comeback to the world.

“Amit ji announced my comeback on Twitter, I thank him for this. He is very close to my heart. I missed him a lot all these years,” he said.

Asked about his expectations with the movie, Kader Khan said: “I have a lot of expectations with this movie. I watched a few portions and the promo of the movie and I am feeling really good about it.

“I believe this movie will do good at the box office as well and people would be like it. They would be happy to see me back. If people like it, I’ll think they still need me and would start preparing for my next movies.”

The movie also stars Om Puri and Sanjay Mishra.