festive varma

After the NYAFF showcase, RGV's canon shows up again at the Tiger Eye Firecracker Showcase "London's Asian Film Festival". A shot of Ahlawat from the upcoming Shiva (music review) serves as a fiery motif for the pages and the cover of the magazine. There's even an interview. [courtesy: greencine]:

What's your take on the way Indian cinema is received in countries like the UK or US?
I don't know, but it is a little confusing for me when a film like Monsoon Wedding becomes such a big success. I feel Indian cinema is dramatically opposite to that film, so I don't know whether the film audience is different or what. I do not think I am really aware of the way Indian cinema is received in the UK or the US.

You are a critically and commercially lauded director within India. Yet you have received little attention abroad. How do you feel about that?

I honestly feel the west is far more advanced. I don't really believe that whether I have talent or not matters. In India my style and techniques are very unique, there is no comparison to that. But at the end of the day let's not forget that I am heavily influenced by the west. So whatever I am doing I'm not creating a new style of filmmaking. I think it's just a throw back to what I have learned from the west.