`The Great Gatsby` story similar to Indian stories, says Amitabh

Mumbai:Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan who was recently seen in an important role in Hollywood film, "The Great Gatsby" says that the story of the film is similar to the stories which we get to see in India.

"The story is quite close to the stories which we make in India. There is a poor man who is in love with this girl. He goes to war and thinking that he will not come back, she gets married to this rich billionaire. Gatsby`s belief in life to create enough wealth to bring her back," Bachchan said at an interview held with G2: The Global Gujarati editor Abhinav Aggarwal Thursday. The film has been directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire. Bachchan plays the role of Meyer Wolfsheim, who is Jewish and said that this is the first time probably an Indian played a non-Indian in an American film. "Baz felt that Wolfsheim suited my appearance. But I feel that we must look above all this when we see a film. It does not matter if an Indian plays a Jewish character. This is the first an Indian is playing a non Indian in an American film," he said. Talking about how Hollywood and Bollywood should work together, Bachchan said that the process had already begun. "There are lots of collaborarions taking place. We have many Hollywood corporations in India who are interested in co producing Hindi cinema," he said. The actor also added that American cinema gives competition to cinema world over. "Wherever American cinema goes, it destroys the local industry there...but I feel competition is good. In India, due to cultural differences, cultural stories may not work. Hollywood is 5 percent in India, I am sure that they would want to increase that," he said. Talking about the style of filmmaking in both the industries he said that the amount of research done in Hollywood is a lot. "The west is obsessed with research. It is wonderful. I don`t think we spend enough energy doing that," he said. He also added that the west excels in promoting their films. "Hollywood is brilliant at how they promote themselves. We can`t compare ourselves to them," he said "We have a paucity of funds," the actor said. "Hollywood has a lot of money. But I think we are getting there. A great amount of the younger generation is trained in America and they bring back with them a lot of knowledge of how management needs to be incorporated," he said. IANS