Guwahati: Celebrated film maker and Adoor Gopalakrishnan today said that a good film must entertain and the audience must be systematically educated to enjoy cinema.

It is a wrong notion that only films with big stars can entertain the audience, the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee told newsmen on the concluding day of the first Guwahati International Film Festival here.

“Films are not just a cerebral exercise. The audience must make the effort to see the film, understand it and enjoy the same,” Gopalakrishnan told reporters

The audience, particulalarly the young generation, must be systematically educated about cinema by showing good films to students in schools and colleges, he said.

“The audience must be made aware of aesthetics, beauty and their importance in one’s life. It is only then that they will enjoy films”, the doyen of Malyalam cinema said.

He said there is another wrong notion that the quality of film depends on its budget. In fact good films can be made with very little budget and even without a star cast.

“It is the content and the knowledge of presenting the film in a manner that will appeal to the audience that finally matters,” he added.

Asked to comment on the screening of Bollywood films at the cost of regional films, he said, “You cannot stop Bollywood films from being screened, but we must show our own films too”.

Gopalakrishnan, who is known for revolutionising Malayalam cinema, said progressive and aesthetic films can be made in adverse conditions. “But the filmmaker has to be honest and be prepared to make a film without any compromise”.

He said the Kerala government had taken the initiative to set up hundred small cinema halls and the Assam government, too, can take up such a project to promote good cinema in the state.

Asked about controversies before the release of certain films, the veteran filmmaker said, “Controversy is not a bad thing. It promotes a film and is sometimes deliberately created.