Indian-American film producer Ashok Amritraj said that Vetri Maaran and Karthik Subbaraj were two of the most talented Tamil directors. Ashok Amritraj was recently conferred with the French distinction of Order National du Merite, awarded by the President of the French Republic, on December 14.
In an interview with Times Of India, he spoke about the recent Tamil films that have impressed him, and said, “One of them is Visaaranai. Vetri Maaran had come home and screened the film for me. I loved the tense moments in it. The other one was Karthik Subbaraj’s movie (Mercury), which didn’t have many dialogues. I find both the filmmakers quite talented.”
Indian filmmakers are growing, but only a few try to reach the global level, he said. “Bahubali and Dangal made huge inroads into international markets. But I don’t think other movies have made such an impact. I’m hopeful of more Indian movies making it to the international arena in the coming years.”
When asked about his favorite films, he said he loved Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody, and was a little disappointed with A Star Is Born even though he thought Lady Gaga was good in it.
He said that England makes some of the best films, content-wise. “When it comes movies and TV series, they are doing both well there. Similarly, France has always been a culturally rich place where creative rights of filmmakers are guarded. The government there supports filmmakers. Germany, too, has put up lot of impressive works of late.”
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On receiving the French Order National du Merite recently, he said, “I’m very honoured and humbled. It’s great to have been conferred such a wonderful honour by the French government. The honour is for promoting arts and culture around the world and not for a specific work. It feels great”
In 2016, Amritraj was recognized by the United Nations for ‘his role as a committed agent of change in his native country’. Amritraj was appointed by UN India as its first Goodwill Ambassador for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including poverty and hunger alleviation, improvements in water and sanitation, and promoting gender equality.