I don’t make movies for intellectuals: Priyadarshan

Priyadarshan, is unarguably one of the greatest filmmakers ever in Malayalam cinema. He has directed around ninety movies in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. Some of his movies like Kala Pani, Kanchivaram and more recently Sila Samayangalil have won accolades nationally and internationally.

Despite being such a great filmmaker, Priyadarshan has often been at the receiving end of criticisms for adapting/taking inspirations from foreign movies. The director has remade almost ten blockbuster Malayalam movies in Hindi.

In a recent interview, Priyadarshan was asked about his thoughts on the copy allegations and criticisms. The director said that he is someone who learnt about filmmaking solely by watching movies. So he naturally gets influenced by them. He admits that he was taken inspirations from other movies during the initial stages of his career. But later he consciously tried to move away from that.

He even took the example of yesteryear superhit film Boeing Boeing. The movie starring Mohanlal and Mukesh in the lead roles was actually inspired from a French drama of the same name. Priyadarshan says that the French drama was actually a sex-comedy but he adapted it to a fun entertainer that could be enjoyed even by kids.

Priyadarshan reaffirmed that he does not make movies for intellectuals but for the common audience. He added that even legends like Shakespeare, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and MT Vasudevan Nair have had to face similar criticisms, so he is least bothered about that.