The select group of people who do make realistic cinema, who do make cinema perhaps a little more acceptable to the Western audience, is a very small percentage.

It's a great opportunity to be together apart from celebrating Indian cinema.

There are large numbers of people in India below the poverty line; there are large numbers of people who lead a meager existence. They want to find a little escape from the hardships of life and come and watch something colorful and exciting and musical. Indian cinema provides that.

We must have song and dance in our lives; we've had it ever since the inception of cinema in India. Our stories are very social-based, very human-based. We are a very emotional nation.

Whether the work that I do shall succeed or achieve critical acclaim is for the audience to decide.

India as a film-making nation has gained recognition, at last, at most important Western and Far Eastern forums.