Mr Harish Kataria is an experienced and multi-talented film maker whose made his first movie “Sister” in 1978, just a few years after arriving in Bombay from Haryana. He is a well-respected name in Bollywood film industry with a special inclination towards writing scripts and songs other than directing movies. His songs have been sung by some of the top Bollywood singers in the industry including Lata Mangeshkar, Alka Yagnic, Kumar Sanu and so on.
Despite moving to Mumbai, he was always connected to his roots back in Haryana and came back to make a reginal movie Batewoo.
His latest project is a Punjabi movie “Simran” which aims at highlighting one of the most serious problems crippling the state of Punjab and Haryana and destroying the youth – Drugs.
Hear his full conversation in this interview with Preeti McCarthy.
Talking to SBS Punjabi, Mr Kataria said that he has combines the theme with religion to educate the youth about the dangers of drugs and the benefits of living a pious life. He believes in giving new actors and budding artists a chance which is why he has chosen local actor form Kurukshetra University as the hero of the movie and the actress is from Patiala. Another reason for choosing regional location and talent is the fact that Haryana government is introducing new laws which will give special subsidies to people who will produce movies in their regional areas and use local talent, something that Mr Kataria says will give much needed exposure to local talent and regional movie industry.
Source: SBS Punjabi
