Filmmaker Kundan Shah and (right) chairman of Jan Sanskriti Manch Manikant Thakur at the news meet in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Dec. 1: Contemporary cinema is all about box office collection, said filmmaker Kundan Shah in the state capital today.

In town to attend Patna Film Festival, Shah said: “Everywhere in the country, people are talking about corruption but there are hardly any new films dealing with the subject. These days, filmmakers are more concerned about making money rather than focussing on the problems of the common man.”

Shah has considerable experience in making issue-related films. His debut Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) — which has now become a sort of a cult film — satirised rampant corruption in Indian society.

He said: “Older films still occupy a special place in the heart of the people. The reason for that is simple. We used to make films on problems that we faced as a common man.”

The director added: “Through this film festival, we want people to remember the era when they could watch a film not only for entertainment but also to think over the issue.”

The festival starts on December 2 and will continue till December 4. It will be hosted at Kalidas Rangalaya. The topic of the fest is corruption and corporate loot. Shah’s films, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and Kya Kehna will also be screened in the festival.

While commending films like Munna Bhai MBBS, Shah also spoke at length on the art of making comedies. He said: “Comedy films cannot be taken for granted because the content plays a crucial part in its making. Some films that are called comedy these days are made without any content. It is not an easy task to make comedies.”

Shah also rued the competitive nature of contemporary films.

“Corporatisation of art makes it lose all charm. That is unfortunate,” said Shah. “High TRPs should not be the sole motive of the producers.”

Shah also co-directed (with Saeed Akhtar Mirza) the popular TV series Nukkad in 1986-87 for Doordarshan.

Asked how a filmmaker was expected to make a living if his films did not earn anything at the box office, Shah said: “A lot of films are made these days but most of them are no good. Films just come and go. Once they go out of the theatre, people don’t even remember their names. That is unfortunate.”