At the 13th Wharton India Economic Forum in Philadelphia, held last night, Abhishek Bachchan stated that the Indian film industry was not waiting agog for an Academy Award despite the Oscar success for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, a British film based on an Indian subject.

"I do not think the Indian film industry is looking at getting an Oscar," he said. "The Indian film industry is very proud and happy of its own industry awards and it (filmmaking) is about reaching out to the audiences and entertaining them, not about getting an award.

"The Oscars are awards for Hollywood and by Hollywood. Sweetly, they have a foreign film section (under) which they award honour certain films which they think deserve to be awarded. With due respect (I must say), that does not mean it is the best film. That means recognition by the American Film Academy," he continued.

"Any recognition by anybody is always humbling," Abhishek added. "But the question is why should everybody be so obsessed with the Oscars? With full respect (to the award), I want to say that we all love and respect Hollywood but that is not the biggest thing for us back home."

Abhishek said that he was very proud and honoured to be invited by Wharton. "I feel strongly about the fact that actors are being invited, not just for photo sessions but to actually speak. Unfortunately, a lot of the times actors are looked upon as either a glamour portion to an event or as people who are frivolous (and) really do not know what they are talking about. I hope I can impress them today with something substantial," he said.

The actor did seem to impress the members of the audience -- most of who were Wharton Business School students and alumni from other schools -- with his brief introductory speech and discussion with fellow panelists like director Rohan Sippy and Abhay Deol.

There was a thumping ovation for Abhishek, rarely seen during the daylong business conference when leading entrepreneurs and economists address the audience. A similar ovation was given to former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, former world billiards champion Geeth Shethi and former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj when they came on stage to talk about the industrialisation of Indian sports.

At the press conference as well as during the panel discussion on Bollywood's 'Pursuit of the Golden Globe,' Abhishek spoke in a lighter vein, cracking jokes intermittently to the thunderous applause of those present.

"We are reasonably well-paid for the labourious work we do," he quipped in response to a question as to why top Bollywood actors are paid so highly. The audience broke into guffaws of laughter.

On a serious note, Abhishek said that if one wants to reach out to the rest of the world, one has to keep in mind that the platforms of the British and the American film industries are more visible than the rest of the film industries in the world.

"The Chinese and the Indian film industries are huge, but the most visible and audible platforms in the world is one of English. Until you make a film in that language, you are not going to fit in the rest of the world. For example, Slumdog Millionaire, has an Indian subject but is made in English. Had it been made in Hindi, say, by Inder Kumar, I do not think it would have as many viewers. At the end of the day, it was a Hollywood product for Hollywood. It was not made for Indians," Abhishek said.

To reach out to the rest of the world, one has to speak in their language. I think somewhere you compromise what Indian films are all about. Would you like to see Shah Rukh (Khan) romancing Juhi Chawla in Switzerland and speaking in English? I do not think so. You would then somehow miss the charm of a Hindi film," Abhishek said.

"I think what is wonderful is that Indian films have received recognition because of their own individuality and their own way. I do not think we tried to bend the rules to try and adjust to another film industry. Today, the Indian film industry is recognised the world over for being an Indian film industry and not something that is trying to bring another film industry. I think that is commendable," the actor concluded.