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Hollywood's Paul Feig yearns to do a Bollywood musical

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IANS Singapore

Impressed by innovative and colourful dance sequences of Hindi movies, Hollywood director Paul Feig says he would love to explore the creativity of the Indian entertainment industry with a musical.

"I am desperate to do a musical. I would love to do a Bollywood musical. The way Bollywood musicals, the dance numbers or items numbers are shot... I can't believe how innovative they are and I truly get inspired by Bollywood cinema and hope to do one soon," Feig told IANS here.

Feig had a brief tryst with Indian talent when he directed actress Nargis Fakhri in "Spy". He shared that his wife Laurie is a big Bollywood junkie and loves to revel with larger than life stories of the films.

 

"I am very much acquainted with Bollywood. My wife is a Bollywood fanatic. Our Bollywood friends are like 'I don't know about that movie and she knows everything'. Shah Rukh Khan is her hero," he said.

The 53-year-old shared his thoughts about Bollywood with this IANS correspondent during an event organised here by Sony Pictures Entertainment for select media from across Asia for the "Ghostbusters" movie.

From "Bridesmaids", to "Spy" to "Ghostbusters" Feig is changing the cinematic landscape for women in comedy. And his decision to replace the male cast with female stars in "Ghostbusters", a reboot of the famous 1984 eponymous American supernatural horror comedy, brought him into a spiral of controversy.

The movie, which released in India last week, stars the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon and Chris Hemsworth.

He says with the film, he has a message for all the women across the globe.

"What I love about Ghostbusters is that these are not superheroes. But they are superheroes because they are human, because they are smart, because they are brave, because they are ballsy, and because they sometimes make flawed decisions. They win through their smarts.

"But they can still be hurt - versus superheroes who punch through the building and get back up again. That's what I love - that these are real people rising to the occasion. I think all women can take the message of that - You have the power within. You are smart, you are strong, you can do this, it's okay to be flawed, but have your goal and you will win."

After hitting a low with big screen outing "I Am David" (2003), and "Unaccompanied Minors" (2006) tanking at the box office, Feig re-emerged in the industry with his flair for comedy.

"The Heat" maker says directing is all about finding a route for improvising.

"You write a script, you hope it is great as your framework... But it is really a road map of how to get from point A to Point B in the scene and in that, I really love the play... Improvisation is really sometimes changing words here and there, sometimes it is like let's go on a completely different route," he said.

(The writer's trip was at the invitation of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) India. Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)

--IANS

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First Published: Aug 02 2016 | 11:28 AM IST

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