There's hope for Hindi cinema if we stop making films for money: Naseeruddin

Veteran actor and thespian Naseeruddin Shah expressed his disappointment in Hindi cinema and said there was hope for it to get better only if films were made without the intention of earning money.

Speaking at 'Meer Ki Dilli, Shahjahanabad: The Evolving City' in New Delhi on Saturday, Shah said Hindi filmmakers have been making the same kind of films for the last 100 years.

"It really disappoints me that we take pride in saying Hindi cinema is 100 years old but we have been making the same films. I have stopped watching Hindi films, I don't like them at all," the 73-year-old said.

Shah added that Indians all over the world go to watch Hindi films because it is their connection with their home, but soon everyone will be fed up.

"Hindustani food is loved everywhere because it has substance. What substance do Hindi films have? Yes, they are being watched everywhere They say, 'how exotic, how Indian, how colourful'. Soon, they will be bored of it because there is no substance," the Masoom actor said.

He believes it is the responsibility of "serious filmmakers" to show the reality of society. "There is hope for Hindi cinema only if we stop seeing them as a means to make money. But I feel it's too late now. There is no solution any more because the films that are being watched by thousands will keep being produced and people will keep watching them, God knows till when.

"So those who want to make serious films, it's their responsibility to show today's reality and in such a way that they don't get a fatwa, or the ED doesn't come knocking on their doors," Shah said.

He noted that Iranian filmmakers made films despite suppression from the authorities and Indian cartoonist R.K. Laxman kept making cartoons during the days of Emergency in the 1970s.