Raj Kapoor's works influenced me: Nikita Mikhalkov

Renowned Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov, the Lifetime Achievement award recipient at IFFI 2015, says he is greatly influenced by Raj Kapoor's movies.
Kapoor had a great fan following in Russia and his 1951 movie "Awara" being his most popular film there.
"Indian cinema has had a great impact on my work. The love and tenderness shown in Raj Kapoor's films have influenced me since childhood... Indian cinema is an entirely different planet for me," said Mikhalkov, who hummed the famous song "Awara Hoon" from Kapoor's movie while attending a press conference here on the sidelines of IFFI.
Talking about his filmography, Mikhalkov, who has directed films like "Dark Eyes", "Without Witness", "Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus" among others, said, "My films are comment on the life of a particular time, not on any political system. I don't like to follow strict set of format of filmmaking as I feel movies should have the freedom to breath."

The 70-year-old director thanked IFFI for conferring the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015 on him and said he feels proud to be included in the list of the distinguished personalities, who have received the award in the past years.