Recently Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan said that song-and-dance numbers are unique to Indian cinema and should not be dropped to appeal to international audiences.

Shah Rukh whose movie ‘Paheli’ also starring super actress starring Rani Mukherjee was thrown out of the Oscar race said that we (Bollywood) should not listen to Critics who often complain that songs (which pop up as dream sequences in most Indian movies) need to be curtailed since audiences overseas find them irrelevant to the plot.

However, Khan said that while movies should be shorter than the average three-hour length, the song-dance routines must stay. Khan said, “Films are an important aspect of entertainment in India and we should retain the songs and dances - that’s our USP (unique selling point).”

He said he was aware that many poked fun at Bollywood movies and thought they were nonsensical and melodramatic because of “people jumping, dancing and singing.”

But Khan pointed out that Hollywood has their share of absurdity. “Look at ‘King Kong’ - a huge monkey falls in love with a girl - how weird can you get?” said Khan.

He conceded that Indian filmmakers should work on tighter scripts and shorter films. “We do need to work on some aspects. I think our films are too long.”