Never understood why we copied for years when our stories were fantastic: Ratna Pathak Shah

Veteran film and theatre actor Ratna Pathak Shah on Thursday lamented the film industry's tendency of depending on copied material despite having a trove of fantastic original stories in the country. I am happy that at least some have understood this now," the 63-year-old actor said.

Veteran film and theatre actor Ratna Pathak Shah on Thursday lamented the film industry's tendency of depending on copied material despite having a trove of fantastic original stories in the country. It took a long time, Shah noted, but she is "happy" there has been some positive change in the storytelling.

"I have always believed our own stories are fascinating. I never understood why we spent so many years copying. We would constantly copy and be happy with ourselves. Things have been copied, left, right and centre, from scenes to music. "It's amazing how we continued this for so long when our own home-grown stories were fantastic. I am happy that at least some have understood this now," the 63-year-old actor said. Shah was speaking at a virtual panel discussion at the latest edition of the India Film Project festival. The "Lipstick Under My Burkha" actor observed a sharper focus on writing over the years, saying the scripts she gets today are "significantly better" than what she was used to.

"There are some stereotypes even now, but at least there is some effort in breaking some stereotypes. OTT platforms have certainly helped in that," she added. Shah was joined by actors Sheeba Chaddha and Gajraj Rao on the panel.

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