Javed critiques actors, movies

Writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar feels the acting standards of performers from this generation have improved but there is still no one of the calibre of some veteran stars.

“This could be something controversial I say, but leave aside actors like Dilip Kumar, Bajraj Sahni or Amitabh Bachchan, who were brilliant actors, I don’t think that currently there is any actor who is of the standard of these actors,” he said at a media interaction during a seminar on Perfecting Indian Cinema.

“But the paradox is that by and large, acting standards have clearly improved as compared to previous times. The hamming evident earlier is absent today,” he added.

Akhtar also said that some things in the industry have gotten worse.

“Perhaps you can say that the writing standard isn’t up to what it was previously. It’s also true that the cliches [and] theatrical dialogues are not seen nowadays.” —