NEW DELHI: Zoya Akhtar, writer and director of ‘Luck By Chance’, says the new stream cinema reinforces the concept of innovative stories, available technologies, and changing audience preferences.

Taking part in the second NewStream Panel discussion at the ongoing 11th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, she said stars could only do a certain number of films every year, and therefore, other producers with innovative stories and treatment often had to pick on other actors in the industry for their films, and this helped the growth of this other cinema. Thus, the prevalent star system indirectly helps the cause of the new wave cinema in India.

The NewStream panel discussion is a new introduction in the festival, where crew members of some off-beat films made in the mainstream genre share their insights with the audience.

Besides Zoya, the others who addressed the session included Farhan Akhtar and Rishi Kapoor, apart from production designer Anuradha Parikh.

All the panelists were unanimous that new stream cinema or not, the entertainment quotient in the film needs to be assured if the movie has to do well commercially. The audience is today discerning enough to respect entertainment, irrespective of the star cast of the movie.

Farhan said writers and directors these days want their movies to be kept real and not show fantasies that their audience cannot relate to. The larger-than-life depiction shown in the past does not connect well with today’s audiences as they are unable to identify themselves with it.

Reflecting on his long journey in cinema, Rishi Kapoor said cinema needs to strike a good balance between economics and sensibilities. He added, “I have witnessed the evolution of Indian cinema and things have grown by leaps and bounds. Cinema to me is both a reflection of society and a potential influencing agent.”