Shaan hasn't changed his mind about Bollywood

Ahead of the release of his directorial comeback Arth 2, Shaan Shahid is doing the usual press rounds, during which he stopped by the BBC studios for a quick Q&A with anchor Geeta Krishna-Murthy.

Unfortunately, though, his interview was barely about Arth.

While he touched on how exactly he adapted Mahesh Bhatt's 1982 classic — he shared, "I took the basic concept of the film and played around with the screenplay a lot" (expect a completely different movie, fans!) — we saw Shaan then field the same ol' questions about his beef with Bollywood.

Like, does he really not see himself working in India?

This isn't the first time Shaan's been asked this question. And he's made it plenty clear that Bollywood doesn't interest him. He reiterated why in this latest BBC interview.

"There's a lot to do in Pakistan right now, as far as film and music are concerned. I think I'm needed more in Pakistan than in India. Because in India, you have great, great actors who are churning out good films. And if I opt to work in India, then who would do anything in Pakistan?"

He goes on to give the example of Fawad Khan, whom he says has only worked across the border (his upcoming Maula Jutt is still under production). Shaan says he'd rather produce work in Pakistan.

"There's a lot of room. We can come up with a lot of talent in Pakistan, we can make a lot of films here. We wouldn't cast Shah Rukh Khan in one of our films, because his films would come out in Pakistan anyway. By the end of the day, if all the Indian celebrities worked in Hollywood, what would happen to the Indian film industry?"

But he could work in both industries, the anchor Geeta persists.

"Pakistan needs more of cinema right now than India. Like I said, India has great artists," Shaan sticks to his guns.

Watch the full interview here.