Ketan Mehta: Use cinema responsibly

Welcoming young filmmakers to carry forward the legacy of cinema, director Ketan Mehta Sunday advised newcomers to use the medium responsibly.

Addressing participants at the Clapstick International Students’ Film festival during the closing ceremony of the National Student’s Film Awards at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) here, Mehta said recognition as a beginner was “much more important” than appreciation at a later stage.

“Cinema is the most powerful medium ever created by humanity. Along with the power of this medium is also a responsibility of using the medium because it can be used any way you like. The political leader who used it most effectively was Hitler.

“So how you use this medium is as important and what you have to say is as important. What you have to say is as important if not more important than the form that carries it,” he said here.

Dubbing cinema as the harbinger of the globalisation process, Mehta hailed the initiative of awarding youngsters involved in filmmaking.

“Getting appreciation and applause at the beginning of your career is much more important than getting it at the end of your career,” he said.

“I also believe that cinema is the beginning of the process of globalisation. Before cinema we actually had to travel to places to experience other cultures.

“With cinema, other cultures started coming to you. It is the strongest globalising force that humanity has seen so far… not steam ship, not printing press and that is why it is so fascinating.”