Indian films not popular in the west says Indian-origin novelist and scriptwriter,Farrukh Dhondy

PANAJI:Indian-origin novelist and scriptwriter Farrukh Dhondy, who is based in Britain, says Bollywood films are not at all popular with the western audience and it is the Indian population that goes and watches it.

Dhondy has scripted movies like Aamir Khan-starrer ' Mangal Pandey - The Rising', 'Kisna' and also been creatively associated with Shekhar Kapoor's 'Bandit Queen'.

"Despite everybody saying that Indian films are are a big hit all over the world, it is actually not true. Yes they are well received in certain places in the world. Bollywood films are a hit in the US and Britain because there are 7 million and 2 million Asian respectively," Dhondy said on the sidelines of IFFI.

"If you ask my sons and daughters who are half-British, they don't know who Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan is. They don't even particularly want to know and they have moved on with Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp," he added.

Dhondy also pointed out that the reason Bollywood films have not been able to capture the imagination of the western audience because people can not relate to the actors and what they do on screen.

"The Indian actors don't look like or behave like Indian people. You wont find a person like Salman Khan on the streets. But ou may find someone like Johnny Depp in the US. They can relate to such people," Dhondy said.