Tamasha & Rockstar director Imtiaz Ali reveals he heard 'Bollywood won't survive' multiple times: 'Dreamers like us watch...'

Bollywood filmmaker and director, who is known for making movies like Jab We Met, Highway, Tamasha, Rockstar, Jab Harry Met Sejal and others, said that many people wrote that Bollywood won't survive in 2022 and shared that cinema won't die because of dreamers like him.

“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 now Bollywood won't survive. When I entered the industry, people had said, ‘Now theatre is over, it won’t work')," the Love Aaj Kal helmer told DNA India.

He added, "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 many times, 'Cinema will shut down' but that didn't happen because dreamers like us watch and make films).”

More from Entertainment

On the professional front, Imtiaz Ali is gearing up for the release of his Netflix release, Amar Singh Chamkila. The film charts the untold true story of Punjab’s original rockstar of the masses, the highest record-selling artist of his time, Amar Singh Chamkila, often referred to as the “Elvis Presley of Punjab’'.

Featuring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in lead roles, Amar Singh Chamkila will stream on 12th April on the OTT giant. The film is produced by Mohit Choudhary, Select Media Holdings LLP, Saregama, and Window Seat Films. The music of the film is composed by the Academy Award winner AR Rahman, who previously collaborated with Imtiaz for Highway, Rockstar and Tamasha.