Adoor: I never make small budget films

Winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke award, Adoor Gopalakrishnan feels film festivals like the Osian's Film Festival -- being held in New Delhi from July 14 to July 23 -- are a must, as they give movie buffs with an opportunity to see the works of popular and creative directors of other countries.

"I come to such festivals because I want to see the great works done in other countries like Iran and Palestine," the master filmmaker told rediff.com in an informal chat on Sunday at the Siri Fort Auditorium, the venue of the festival.

"India has been exposed to films from Hollywood but we want to see the films from other nations," he said. "I feel some of our films lack in content though now, there is improvement in content as well. Technically, we are as good as any other country."

Movies during Raj Kapoor's times were like a different era, Gopalakrishnan added.

The director said the Osian's Festival was growing in size over the last few years. This is the eighth edition of the festival.

When asked when he would make a big budget movie next, Adoor replied, "I never make small budget films. The budget may not be as big as one would like to have it but I do not go for shoe-string-budget films."

And then the director headed off to the auditorium to watch a film from China.