BENGALURU: Kabir Bedi has launched the DVD of his 1976 Italian TV series Sandokan in India, dubbed in Hindi. It is the story of a fictional pirate, created by Emilio Salgari. City Express catches up with him on his DVD release and his upcoming films.
Excerpts
How do you feel now that Sandokan has completed 40 years?
What’s exciting is not that Sandokan has completed 40 years. In Europe, it still remains very popular. The success of Sandokan has been carried on for decades. That’s why I decided to dub it in Hindi and produce it as a six hour DVD for the Indian market on my own.
What can Indian audiences expect?
This is not like a film opening on Friday. I don’t want to sell two million copies on the first day. It’s up on the sites. It can be sold from now to eternity. I hope to take it to various television networks.
So, when can we expect it on TV?
I don’t know. Unlike most of the people who run it on TV and then on DVD, I have done it the other way to have complete control over the quality of the product. So I did the DVD first. Now, I will see the best offers and how soon I get it.
You are one of the earlier actors to do international films and TV series. Now many Indian actors are doing it. Your say?
It makes me very happy to see the success of Indian actors today. This is what I hoped for. When I set out for abroad and Hollywood...
Tell us about your upcoming films, Dilwale and Mohenjodaro
Diwale is coming out on December 18. It is set against a conflict between me and Vinod Khanna, playing the older generation. Being a Rohit Shetty film, there’s going to be lots of thrills and chills. Mohenjodaro is a mega historical project based on the oldest city in the world. So, imagine the film on that scale and just know that it’s a fabulous story.
You have been there in Indian cinema for a very long time. What do you think about how Indian cinema has evolved?
Obviously, technology has improved. All kinds of non-traditional audiences are now seeing our films. I was in Czechoslovakia at a Bollywood film festival where 90 per cent of the audience in the theatre were non-Indians.
They were European. Everywhere I go, people ask me about Bollywood. So, the brand Bollywood has become very big. The uniqueness of the popular Bollywood films is our use of songs and dance. The Indian film industry is the only film industry in the world that gives its nation its popular songs. The aspects of songs and dance, instead of being looked down upon as it was a few decades ago, is now seen as a narrative form in its own right.