World thinks Indian cinema all about song and dance: Scholar

After the death of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray in 1992, the rest of the world thinks India only makes song-and-dance spectaculars, according to a British film scholar.
"After Satyajit Ray there is hardly any Indian filmmaker whom people know of in the rest of the world, Europe in particular," UK-based film historian and author Geoffrey Nowell-Smith told PTI during a visit here.
He said Ray has been the most famous Indian filmmaker globally and now the general perception in the rest of the world is that India makes only song-and-dance spectaculars and a few adventure stories.
He said Ray's films like 'Pather Panchali' has the unique capacity to be universal and particular at the same time which makes his work popular even today in Europe.

A recent retrospective of Ray's films were a hit in London.
According to him, best known representatives of Indian art cinema have been Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, all from West Bengal.

"But now people think that Indian cinema is only Bollywood. Regional Indian cinema is hardly known outside," Geoffrey said.
On audience of Indian films abroad, he said those not of Indian origin hardly take any interest.
Geoffrey, editor of The Oxford History of World Cinema, was here to deliver a talk on transnational cinema at the British Council.