Here's Imtiaz Ali's Answer to People Saying 'Bollywood Nahi Chalega'

'Bollywood won't die because of dreamers like us who watch and make films,' said Imtiaz Ali.

Imtiaz Ali opens up about the time he heard Bollywood won't survive.

(Photo courtesy: Facebook)

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali recently shared his opinion on people who wrote that Bollywood 'won't survive' back in 2022 and the Hindi film industry's comeback the year later.

In an interview with DNA, the filmmaker said that he heard "Bollywood nahi chalega (Bollywood won't survive)" several times and added that cinema won't ever die because of 'dreamers like him' who will watch and make films.

Imtiaz told the news publication, "Main dus baar sunn chuka hoon, ab Bollywood nahi chalega. Jab main aaya tha industry mein logo ne kaha tha, 'Ab khatam ho gaya theatre, ab nahi chalega' (I've heard multiple times that Bollywood won't survive now. When I had stepped into the industry, people said, 'Theatre is over now; it won’t work anymore').

"Even before that, when VCR came, people said the same things. When colour television came, there was a similar opinion. Logo ne kaha hai kai baar ki, 'Cinema bandh ho jayega', magar cinema bandh hua nahi, kyuki hum jaise dreamers hai jo dekhte bhi hai, and banate bhi hai (People have said manier times, 'Cinema will shut down' but that didn't happen because dreamers like us watch and make films)," he added.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Imtiaz is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming film, Amar Singh Chamkila, which is set to premiere on Netflix on 12 April. The drama is based on the true story of the late Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila and his musician-wife, Amarjot Kaur. Chamkila, Kaur, and members of their band were assassinated in March 1988.

The film will feature Diljit Dosanjh as Amar Singh Chamkila and Parineeti Chopra as Amarjot Kaur.