American filmmaker and director Joe Russo recently attended the Sands International Film Festival in Scotland, where he spoke about his upcoming series ‘Citadel’ featuring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden. He also spoke about backing other industries around the world, including Bollywood, to give them a wider reach.
When asked what the best version of Hollywood looks like, Joe said it should get more international and pointed out Bollywood as an example. He said, “Certainly a more diverse version and one that’s more international. Bollywood, for instance, is one of the more significant film businesses in the world but it has extremely minimal exposure outside of India. Thank God for movies like ‘RRR,’ using a level of technical genius, visual effects, and mythological storytelling to appeal to a much wider audience. We learn about other cultures from movies like that. So, I guess, our goal would be empowerment. We want to support other markets as much as possible so their stories can get through in a broader way.”
Joe has worked with Indian artists in movies like ‘Extraction’ and ‘The Gray Man.’ Meanwhile, his ‘Citadel’ is set to be adapted for Italian and Indian audiences. The Indian version will be helmed by filmmaking duo Raj and DK, with Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu taking on the lead roles.