Now Abhishek will answer questions from the audience,” said the moderator.
“But can I ask a question?” said Abhishek Bachchan, flashing a winning smile.
“Yes,” said the moderator, surprised.
“Can I get a cup of coffee, please?” said Abhishek, who had been speaking for an hour, and the full-house erupted with hearty laughter.
The popular Bollywood actor floored the students of the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) with his wit and insight, especially in sports entrepreneurship, at the Pan-IIM World Management Conference here on Friday.
“Yes, there is plagiarism in Bollywood,” he grudgingly admitted. “But Hollywood also copies from us: ‘Titanic’ is nothing but ‘The Burning Train’ on water.”
In a more serious tone, he said plagiarism was rampant because of ambiguous copyright laws in India. “Now, in India, there are producers who buy the rights legally to adapt films,” he said. “Hindi film ‘Kahaani’ is going to be adapted for Hollywood, for instance.”
Could Hollywood learn something from Bollywood?
“Yes, they could learn how to shoot a song; in ‘Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa’, I have played an artist in Agra who transports and teleports himself to Switzerland for a song with 50 women dancing and dressed as Roman soldiers behind me in snow,” said Abhishek. “Indian films are basically escapist fare. We need to have everything in one movie: music, dance, action, romance…”
About becoming a sports entrepreneur, he said it was out of passion for football that he became a promoter of the Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League. “I had a chat with FIFA president Sepp Blatter during the World Cup in Brazil and he asked me: you have 1.2 billion people and you cannot put 11 men on a football field,” he said.
“That got me thinking.” He said he was happy to see the success of the Pro Kabaddi League, in which he owns the Jaipur Pink Panthers. “I had decided to invest in kabaddi because it was a purely Indian sport,” he said. “More countries play kabaddi than cricket, you know.”
