Arab films addressing concerns common to world: Sharmila

Dubai: Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore has said that Arab cinema is addressing the same concerns that are common to other parts of the world, particularly India.

Sharmila, 65, who was in Muscat as the chairperson of feature film jury at the seventh edition of the Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF), said the festival gave her a wonderful opportunity to see some meaningful Arab cinema, Times of Oman reported. "It has been an enriching experience watching and judging 10 films. I also noticed importance subjects like family, community, neighbours have been taken up by filmmakers. It was so nice especially since we live in an atmosphere of suspicion," Sharmila said. "It was heartening to see that the Arab film world is addressing the same concerns which are very common to other parts of the world, particularly India," she said adding that she was happy to see the subject of women`s empowerment being reflected upon by the filmmakers here. Taking about films in and around the region, Tagore said, "They are making good films. Egypt is as big as India and they have been making films for years. Turkey and Iran have been making very meaningful and wonderful cinema."| Sharmila said filmmakers in Iran and China are making films based on their own culture but they have huge global appeal. On Indian cinema, she said, "The industry is very diverse with films being made in so many languages. In India we have different genres of films, from big blockbusters with huge budgets to small budget films which also make waves, like the recent films Kahaani and Paan Singh Tomar." According to her, this is a good sign because there is scope for all kinds of films, especially with multiplexes creating a special audience and with marketing and distribution getting better. PTI