Books are more important than films to Vishal Bhardwaj

Ace filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, who is known for movies that are adapted from great works of literature, feels that books and literary works are much more important than films as good books lead to good stories for films.

"Books are more important than films to me. If we don't have good books, good literature, then we don't have good writers. So in order to create new writers we have to encourage buying books. As a result we will have more literature to make films on," he told media during an interaction at the 18th JIO MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

Further speaking on the same, he stated that at this moment, biopics are trending high in Bollywood.

"Biopics are also taken from the books written on the person. This is all about trend. At this moment, biopics are trending. Earlier, so many movies were done on Chetan Bhagat's works. I too did movies on Shakespeare's plays," Bhardwaj added.

On a related note, the 51-year-old filmmaker has garnered huge appreciation for movies like 'Maqbool,' 'Omkara' and 'Haider,' based on William Shakespeare's works.

On the work front, Bhardwaj has all set with his upcoming period romance drama 'Rangoon' featuring Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor in it.

Set during World War II, the film is set to release on February 24, 2017.