Bhubaneswar: Film-maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan lamented the insensitive attitude of governments towards regional cinema.

Gopalakrishnan was in the city on Saturday to receive the Bharat Muni Samman at the ninth edition of Bharat Muni Festival.

"The phenomenon has been continuing since a long time and it has come to a point where there is no hope for meaningful cinema in this country," he said.

"There are some states like Maharashtra who are doing special promotions for independent cinema. Some parts of the country are making better films while others are lagging behind. If you take India as a whole, there is nothing to encourage good films here," he said.

"Star power has come as a major hindrance in the path. Everyone is running after Bollywood. Even the policymakers, influenced by Bollywood, are ruling the roost," Gopalakrishnan said.

Inspired by Satyajit Ray's film-making, Gopalakrishnan said: "He had raised the bar of Indian cinema to an international level and that was his biggest contribution. There were others in the league, including Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, but unfortunately, the growth is slow."

Gopalakrishnan feels that digital technology is a boon for the young film enthusiasts.

"Ever since cinema has been liberated from its cumbersome process of making, a number of young film-makers have come to the forefront."

"Although many of them are not equipped with the knowledge of cinema, but they are making good attempts. If they develop a certain an understanding about cinema, they can do it," he said.

"That is the only hope we have."