Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, once the showman of Bollywood, now says he wants youngsters to shun Western Culture and avoid jeans.

"I would not want the younger generation to wear jeans anymore, " said Ghai, who has directed and produced several superhit films where his actresses wore exotic Western outfits. These include Tanushree Dutta in "Good Boy, Bad Boy", Koena Mitra in "Apna Sapna Money Money", Priyanka Chorpa in "Aitraaz" and Perizaad Zorabian in "Joggers Park".

"The youngsters today should shed their Western faces or Western masks that they are wearing, " he said at the India premiere of his Bengali film "Nauka Dubi" at the 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

India's young, he said, should be weaned towards 'national character' through films.

Admitting he was sounding "different", Ghai said that over the years commerciality had virtually taken over technology and art.

"Children must build national character, not corrupt character, " said the maker of the lovable gangster Ballu, played by Sanjay Dutt in "Khalnayak".

Ghai further said cinema was a great way to incorporate national character in youngsters.

"Not just independent or rich cinema, even in an out and out commercial film there are four five things which can make someone like a rickshawala stop to think and change his perception about issues, " he said.

Advising young filmmakers to learn to accept all kinds of cinema, Ghai said it was his mentor, Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, who made him realise the importance of having an open, accepting mind in cinema.

"I give credit to Ritwik Ghatak as my teacher at the Film and Television institute of India (FTII)... he was the one who taught me that being open to all kinds of cinema was important, " he said.