Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan says the coveted Oscar Awards are inspirational and not a benchmark.
“When you see a property like Oscars it’s inspirational if not a benchmark.
“They have been going on for years, they have created an academy, everybody looks up to them,” said Khan.
“If we can create a similar property for Indian cinema, then it’s good. It’s okay to take a cue from there, but not think it as a benchmark, rather create a benchmark for ourselves,” he said.
The Academy Award is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognise excellence in cinematic achievements in the United States film industry.
The Chak De India star said that Indian cinema should be introduced to the world.
“Whatever experience I have of spending time with [Hollywood celebrities], I think they are gracious. They all attend the awards, being nominated is a big thing for them,” said the 51-year-old actor.
“We also judge everybody’s work, we also like and not like something. I think everybody makes fun of everyone. It’s a duty to introduce everyone to our work, our cinema and our way of making films so that the lack of education can be overcome,” he said.
Khan is of the view that actors should respect their audience and not look down upon them.
“After working for so many years on film stories, with film people, I’ve learnt that people who are watching films matter. As you wake up in the morning you should have respect for them and not look down upon them saying audience are silly, or that they don’t understand films, I think they understand everything,” said Khan.
“One should respect their work. I am shy, I don’t have sense of extra confidence, I take help of people who are backstage. I prepare a lot when I am on stage and I don’t always get it right,” the 51-year-old actor said.
The actor was speaking at a press conference to launch the Indian Academy Awards (IAA), presented by Cineyug. The awards aim at bringing together the talents of Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood (south Indian film industry).
Khan said, “The more the awards, the merrier it is. I am honoured to be part of the launch of first Indian Academy Awards. It will be great to see all of them together. We want to take Indian cinema to an international platform.”
Indian Academy Awards will be a two-day extravaganza of live performances and fashion shows, to be held on July 7 and 8 next year at Silicon Valley in the US.
