LAHORE, Oct 5: Indian film director Shyam Benegal has said exchange of films between Pakistan and India is a good idea, but there is a marked difference in terms of magnitude and output.

Mr Benegal was speaking to reporters at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the venue for a four-day festival of his flicks, on Friday. The Faiz Foundation Trust is organising the festival.

Mr Benegal said the Indian film industry was bigger compared to Pakistan`s and Indian producers did not get the required space through exchange of movies. However, he is all for such a development for which he suggested institutions related to culture and film industry on both sides must conduct brainstorming sessions to be able to exchange films.

`There are political compulsions which hamper cultural exchange and people-to-people contacts,`he said. He said both countries were rich in filmmaking talent, and spoke highly of Pakistani productions -`Bol` and `Khuda key liye` In India, he said, corporate culture had invaded the film industry and they were producing films of different choices for people. `With the induction of big money, film economics has gone easier than it used to be until a few years ago,` he said.

`If you don`t have a good story, you don`t have a good script,` was what he responded when asked about his opinion on the quality of script in present Indian films. He said a good 40 to 50 years ago there wasn`t much focus on scripts in movies as they were all about ideas. Now, he said, script was being given due importance.

`Trikal` was screened on the second day of the festival.

Written and directed by Shyam Benegal, the film is set in Goa during the early 1960s. It starred Leela Naidu in a comeback role. A number of people watched the film on Friday.

On Saturday, `Mammo` will be screened.