Naseeruddin’s as candid as an actor can be and it comes as a breath of fresh relief in a time when everything is controlled by the right choice of words. Talking about the future of Bollywood cinema, the actor says, “The distinction between art films and commercial cinema has been somewhat blurred with film like Gangs of Wasseypur and Delhi Belly. But it’s still very much there. It’s the big film and small film nowadays. Let’s just put it that way.” “The big film I fear is headed in the self destruct direction. Costs are getting ludicrous. This boom has to explode, the way it happened in Hollywood in 1960 with a film called Cleopatra. It cost 25 million dollars to make that film which at that time was the most expensive film ever made and it blew up in their face. A couple of studios closed down. It was rescued by a small film called Easy Rider made with hand made cameras and which rescued Hollywood. I’m afraid something like that will happen because star prices and costs are a sheer wastage,” adds the actor. Giving his views on the frenzy behind the 100 crore club, he says, “The greed has finally come out into the open. That’s ok. At least it has come out. Every body talks about 100 crores, I don’t know why. We’ve been talking about 100 crore for last 100 years.”
