In a fast and disintegrating world, cinema is one of the most worthy examples of unity and integration, said Amitabh Bachchan, who was conferred the Indian Film Personality of the Year award at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFF) on Tuesday, 28 November.
"I have always felt that my respect and regard for the Indian film industry has rested in the presence that the film industry has had in our world. When we sit inside a darkened hall, we never ask for caste, creed, colour or the religion of the person sitting next to us," he said, in his award acceptance speech at the closing ceremony of IFFI.
"Yet, we see the same film, we laugh at the same jokes, we cry at the same emotion, we sing the same songs. In this fast disintegrating world of today, where can you find such a wonderful and worthy example of unity and integration as you do in the world of cinema," he asked.
Citing a cinema-related anecdote involving his father and Hindi poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, Amitabh said: "I once asked my father what do you getting watching films on TV every evening. He said: 'I get to see poetic justice in three hours. You and I will see poetic justice in perhaps a lifetime'."