The success of multiple-Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire notwithstanding, film-maker Subhash Ghai feels that the emergence of music-director AR Rahman as an international artist was the only positive that India could claim from the film.

"Slumdog Millionaire was a film made by a westerner who had a plot and hired a few local actors for it. We cannot claim it to be an Indian film," Ghai said during an interaction.

"The only thing that we should rejoice is the success of Rahman. He won laurels for his music from the international community despite composing it in a language which was unknown to them," said the Showman, who is known for making films like Hero, Khalnayak, Ram Lakhan, Taal and Pardes.

However, Ghai feels that Rahmans Oscar-winning composition Jai Ho is not his best work. "Rahman himself acknowledges he has given better music than Slumdog Millionaire. Many have told me that his music for my film Yuvraaj was much better than Slumdog," Ghai said.

Rahmans Oscar-winning song Jai Ho was originally composed for Ghais musical Yuvraaj that hit the silver screen last year. But it wasnt considered good enough to be featured on Zayed Khan and was replaced by the peppy number Shanno Shanno.

"The song was in a sense my concept. I wanted a song that would finish with Jai Ho just like one of my earlier one Om Shanti Om. But when it was composed, the poetry in it was too heavy for it to be disco-number. So we amicably settled for Shanno which we felt was the right song for the scene," he said.

Asserting that sensibilities play an important in defining the kind of a film that is made in a country, Ghai said the Indian audiences were not mature enough to accept any culture other than their own.

"Cinema reflects society. While people in the West are curious to know about other countries, the audience in India wants to see itself in a movie," he said.

The international success of Slumdog Millionaire can be explained by the fact that audience were left wondering how a boy from the slums of a third-world country could be so intelligent, he said.

"However, our audience enjoys cinema with lots of music and dances. We believe in epics and want our stories to be told and retold," the filmmaker said.

Asked whether the Oscars act as the benchmark for Indian films, he said, "It depends on the way we perceive the world to be. Indians still look upto the United States as the ultimate. There is still a craze for things from foreign origin. So is the outlook with the Oscars."

On the tiff between the film producers association and the multiplex owners, the filmmaker said that the strike was a lose-lose situation for all and could have been handled in a better way.

"For the filmmakers, factors like interest rates and cost of finance that are hanging in balance. Moreover, a film loses the right build up before its release," he said adding "my own film Paying Guest is ready for release for the past two months but I havent been able to release it."

"Similarly, multiplexes owners are suffering due to empty seats," he said.

Ghai said that he had no objection with the younger generation filmmakers remaking old classics.

"Filmmakers have different ways of approaching the same subject. They adopt the old script and combine it with modern technologies, which makes it exciting to watch," he said.

Asked whether he had any qualms when his classic Karz was remade, Ghai said, "why should I object if some body gives me Rs three crore for an old script of mine."

Also Read
Slumdog ushering a new era for Bollywood
Six Suspects: Charmed by Slumdog Millionaire
'Slumdog Millionaire' children back on streets