Farhan Akhtar On Excel Origins: ‘It’s A Good Time To Support Young Voices’
Farhan Akhtar On Excel Origins: ‘It’s A Good Time To Support Young Voices’
Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani are looking to use their own experience of getting a first break to create opportunities for a new generation of filmmakers. The partners at Excel Entertainment recently announced Excel Origins, a new initiative aimed at supporting emerging storytellers and projects that offer something different. For Akhtar, the idea comes from remembering what it was like when he and Sidhwani were starting out and needed someone to believe in their vision.
“When we were young and looking to make our first film, it was important that we had people who believed in it. Life has been really good to us. It’s a good time to support young voices who are in that same place as we were in our early 20s. We have incredibly talented storytellers in this country. A lot of them don’t find the right avenues to be able to show their talent. Our intention is to find projects that’s not going to be echo of something that’s already out there,” Akhtar told The Indian Express.
The initiative, therefore, is rooted in the filmmakers’ own journey rather than simply being an expansion of Excel Entertainment’s existing slate. Akhtar and Sidhwani, who launched Excel Entertainment in 1999, went on to back Dil Chahta Hai, which marked Akhtar’s directorial debut and became one of the defining films of its generation.
Twenty-five years after Dil Chahta Hai, Akhtar says the industry continues to have talented storytellers who need the right platform. With Excel Origins, the partners are looking to identify those voices early and give them the backing that they themselves valued when they were trying to make their first film.
The emphasis, however, appears to be firmly on originality. Akhtar's said that the intention is to find projects that are not simply reproducing ideas or formats that have already worked, but stories that can bring a different voice to the screen.
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