Boyle, who denied he was being lined up to direct the next "Bond" film, shares his views of Hollywood.

"Hollywood is business, just like Bollywood," he said. "It turns out hundreds of films and caters to different things. It does not really suit me.

"I like to take a limited amount of money and try to make it feel like 100 million dollars on the big screen. You can do that slightly better outside the Hollywood system. I call it working off the radar, so that nobody knows what you are doing."

If you were making "Slumdog Millionaire" in Hollywood, Boyle explained, its central character, Jamal, would never have been tortured at the start of the film and the kids would never have been blinded.

"They would say 'forget about that, people will leave the cinema if you show that scene'. And you would never have the song and dance at the end, because the tone changes too much. What they do is go for the middle ground - but it is things off the middle-ground that really interest me."

In addition, Danny Boyle will be the jury president of this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, according to the general manager of the festival.

Boyle said that he had never been a jury in any film festival before and he would make no criteria for this year's winning films.

"It's fantastic to be in a film festival. It's very rare in normal life going to a cinema that you know nothing about the film ... You should always approach those films with a completely open mind. And that's what I'll be doing," said Boyle at the premiere of "Slumdog Millionaire".

He said that his first film "Shallow Grave" was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and he felt very lifted by the positive responses of the audiences who knew nothing about the film before watching it.

Boyle said he might consider making a film in China.

"Development and changes ... When you have a city that is full of people and stories like Mumbai, Beijing or Shanghai, it's just so much excitement and potential for a filmmaker. It's like a dream come true."

China might be the last stop for a six-month world tour for this film Boyle hoped that the film's release in China will also be "epic."

Tang Lijun, general manager of the Shanghai International Film Festival said, "Slumdog Millionaire is a perfect example for the cultural exchange between the eastern and western world ... and Danny Boyle will surely bring new prospects for this time's Shanghai International Film Festival in this June."

This year's Shanghai International Film Festival is scheduled from June 13 to 21. According to Tang, more than 600 feature films and 200 short films have already been submitted to the festival committee.

When asked to give advice to Chinese filmmakers on how to win awards, Boyle said, "Don't try... You have no control over that."

"Make the story you want to make ... with compassion," he said.

(China Daily/Xinhua, March 26, 2009)