You Need a Combination of Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan to Get into Different Markets: Imtiaz Ali

Mumbai: Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali said the best way to enter a new business market for films would be to have superstars "Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan as a combination of exuberance and content".

At a panel discussion titled 'Chinese Dragon Market for Elephantine Indian Films' at the ongoing FICCI Frames, Ali said when a local content is consumed globally, it makes

storytellers enhance their own work.

"I think you need Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir as a combination of exuberance and content to break through and get into different markets. Of course, I've shot with Shah Rukh in Europe, so there hardly a place that we went and people didn't mass recognise him. That's a great thing for us," Ali said.

"What it does is, it changes the quality of your own work when you get aware of the fact that different people from all over the world are watching... I think there is a qualitative improvement in cinema as a result of it travelling abroad," the director added.

Ali said from Devdas, which opened European markets, to Secret Superstar, which is doing great business in China, "we have started to wear the same clothes".

"Except for language, there is no other difference," he said.

When asked if he would make a film in Mandarin, Ali said he actually has an idea which might be suitable to be made in the language.

"I quickly thought of all the films that I have made. And even though when I think about Mandarin, what comes to my mind is really exotic Chinese music and people eating with chopsticks and some pretty looking girls. When I think about the films I have made, many of them could have been a Mandarin film.

"But now, I feel I already have a lot of scripts for Mandarin films, especially the one that I have been toying with from a long time. It gives writers and directors an opportunity to tell stories with a bigger heart, to a bigger audience," he said.