Afghanistan actor Khatira Yusufi arrives on the second day of the 39th International film festival of India in Panaji on Monday. Photo: PTI  

Panaji (PTI): Veterans from the Hindi film industry on Sunday said films in the current generation lacked rich content in the absence of financial assistance to the script-writers.

“We have a beautiful body but the soul is lost,” yesteryear actor Randhir Kapoor, who is here to attend the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2008, told PTI.

Kapoor said that despite having big budgets for films, there was no content compared to the Hindi films of the past.

“Content does not come with money. We are more commercial now,” he said.

Kapoor said that there was a need to encourage script writers to generate rich content required for the success of any film.

Echoing Kapoor’s sentiments, veteran filmmaker Jahnu Barua said, “most of the big films flop because of the lack of content irrespective of how many stars are there in them.”

The national award winning film-maker, said the content was around but we have to look for it. “All the big corporates investing in this industry have now started realizing that it is not the stars but the content that delivers success,” said Barua, who is best known for his film ‘Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara’.

He said there is a shortage of good script writers as we have not been able to concentrate on them. “When a film is planned, the writer is the first one to be contacted and last one to be paid. There is a neglected attitude towards the writers which needs to be changed,” the filmmaker added.

Barua said that the scene is optimistic in the regional film industry. “In the regional film industry, a good writer is respected. Respect does not mean bowing the head but respecting him financially,” he said.