Pakistanis consider Bollywood as the ultimate: Naseeruddin Shah

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, who has worked in a handful of Hollywood films, explains why actors frolicking across borders will "come back very soon."

"Hindi actors have always been dying to go to Hollywood," Hindustan Times quoted Shah as having said. "They would give their arms to go to there."

He then compared the excitement to that of our local actors. "It’s like Pakistani actors are dying to come to India. Pakistani people consider Bollywood to be the ultimate! I go there and they say ‘waah kya films banai hai’," he said jokingly.

But he believes that all those who are currently making their way to Hollywood, will soon return to Bollywood.

"These people who are tom-tomming their entry into Hollywood, are all going to come back very soon, because Hollywood has no place for an Asian to play a lead. It’s a one-off thing," he said.

Shah feels the only thing Bollywood takes from Hollywood is the extravagance it paints, rather than backing films which carry a strong social message.

"We have always been aping Hollywood but only in the superficial manner. The glitz and the glamour! The fact is that mainstream Hollywood will still back a film like Whiplash, Nightcrawler, King’s Speech, Spotlight. Which of our films would back a daring film like Spotlight? Not one. That’s the difference between us and Hollywood," he said.

Across border, Naseeruddin Shah has appeared in action-adventure film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Monsoon Wedding (2001), The Great New Wonderful (2005).