Forgotten their roots: Aamir Khan on why Hindi filmmakers are struggling

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan on Sunday said the reason behind the success of South cinema lies in its directors tapping into strong emotions in their stories, something filmmakers up north have forgotten.

The popular actor was speaking at the press conference of PVR-INOX's "Aamir Khan: Cinema Ka Jadugar", a special film festival commemorating Aamir's contribution to Indian cinema.

Veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who moderated the session with Aamir, asked the actor why South films are working in theatres, while Hindi films are struggling.

One of the reasons also is that writers or directors in Hindi perhaps have been trying to entertain an audience which is slightly finer. They've forgotten their roots. There are finer emotions, then there are baser emotions. Revenge is a strong emotion.

"But doubt is a light emotion, it's a less attractive emotion. Anger, love, revenge. We (Bollywood) are choosing to talk about different aspects of life. We're not sticking to the broader strokes, Khan told reporters here.

The actor, who also owns production banner Aamir Khan Productions, believes the South is giving more space to massy films through single screens, whereas Hindi filmmakers are catering to multiplex-going audiences which represent a smaller section of viewers.

When multiplexes came, there was a talk in the film industry that the audience is changing and its (multiplex) audience is different. It (The conversation) had started growing very strongly. And then there was a certain genre of films that were being made which were called multiplex films.

"That this is a multiplex film and this is a single-screen film. The South films are what we typically used to call single-screen films, mass, very hard hitting, very broad strokes. I think maybe the Hindi filmmakers tried to go more towards multiplex films, he added.

Aamir and Javed Akhtar are collaborating next on the actor's upcoming film production Lahore 1947, headlined by Sunny Deol.