An iconic film-director

Santosh Mehta

Famous film-director Shekhar Kapoor hit the limelight after his hit film 'Bandit Queen', a biopic of dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi, which won the National Award for best feature film in Hindi and the Filmfare critics award for best movie and best direction for that year. Premiering in the directors' Fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes film festival, the film caused a furore, catapulting him into International success.
Shekhar Introduced Cate Blanchet to the world in his two historical biopics of Queen Elizabeth, which were nominated for 7 Academy awards, including Best film, and won two, also winning 5 B BAFTA Awards, including Best film.
He co-created the hit Westend show Bombay Dreams with Andrew Lloyd Webber and has been the recipient of the Indian National film Award , the BAFTA Award, the National Board of Review Award, and the three Filmfare Awards. In 2010, he served as one of the Jury members (International Competition) at the 63rd Cannes film festival, the Tokyo film festival and was one of the sponsors of the International Indian film festival in Goa. He is also a digital media entrepreneur .founding 'Quuki" one of India's most successful online platforms for young Indian creators.
Shekhar says that individual creativity is often stymied by gatekeepers. Technology allows you to expand your horizons. Cinema is a social thing, you have social experience. You may have dinner at

home 99 per cent of the time but still want to go out sometimes just to have a good experience same is happen with cinema. Audiences want new story ideas and experiments. He says," Somebody asked me, how do you become film-maker?" The answer is that anybody can be a filmmaker, who knows how to upload pictures and videos from his smartphones on You tube. But doesn't the viewer decide who is successful in film-making, and who is not?
Shekhar answers, "Cinema develops in a certain way .Earlier people used to sit in air-conditioned comfort for three hours to watch movie, holding hands, having popcorns. You have to get ready,dress up nicely to go to the theatre to watch your favourite film. But now, things have totally change due to technology."

His style of direction is unique. "I told Kate I am not the film director, I am the gardener, you have to trust, you have to provide the fundamental and you depends upon the audience." He feels trusting his instincts is a better proposition.
Shekhar adds that this is a television age and social media is very much active. Top 20 users are U-tubers; there are no actors, no sports people. The top 10 models are u-tubers said, points out the noted film-maker.
In his upcoming future film-project, he said that he will be making a woman-oriented film. "Women's stories excite him. They are powerful and have lot of stuff." He feels they leave a bigger impact.
He started his career in Bollywood with "Masoom" and went on to become one of the most celebrated Indian filmmakers in the global circuit with "Elizabeth", but Shekhar Kapur now wants to come back home and make a movie for the Indian film industry.
The 71-year-old director, however, believes he has lost his "naivety" as a filmmaker and people's expectations have only made things harder.

"I am desperate to make another film in India. I want to come home and make a film. When I made Masoom, nobody was expecting anything from me. I wasn't expecting anything from myself. It is a terrible space for a filmmaker to be in.
"I know I can do it but I need to bring back the madness, which is my biggest problem. Creativity comes from madness. I was a CA when I came to make films... There was a certain madness. I am now trying hard to get that back,"
Shekhar said he was heartbroken when the film Paanigot shelved as he had worked on the project for 15 years."Paani is a complex subject. I am good at selling films. I believe I can sell something so fast and Adi (Aditya Chopra) got caught," he quipped. "I was devastated as I was passionate about the project. I had it with me for 15 years. I was working on it for so long. It was draining, it was art.
It was not like if not this, I will make something else. When I saw Sushant (Singh Rajput) I felt he is the guy," he added.
Post "Paani", the director had announced that he will be working with Kangana Ranaut on a film, in which the actor will play an 85-year-old woman.
Talking about the status of the movie, Shekhar said, "I am currently writing the script. It is a beautiful script."



		EDITOR'S MAIL FROM THE EDITOR POLITICAL IRONY POLITICS OF CONFLICT UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY QUESTION PAPER LEAKS FRANKLY SPEAKING REALPOLITIK SHAME INDIA ! SHAME INDIA ! SIGNS OF THE TIMES POLITICAL SCENE EXPORT DRIVE KASHMIR WATCH KASHMIR WATCH HIMACHAL PRADESH POLITICS IN PUNJAB CHANDIGARH DIARY COMMONWEALTH GAMES HITS & MISSES INDIA'S TIBET POLICY SYRIAN CRISIS REMEMBERING S. NIHAL SINGH REMEMBERING TVR BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR YOGA IN DAILY LIFE STORY OF GURUGRAM CINEMA ART OF LIVING Issue:May' 2018 Subscribe Now	CINEMA An iconic film-director Santosh Mehta Famous film-director Shekhar Kapoor hit the limelight after his hit film 'Bandit Queen', a biopic of dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi, which won the National Award for best feature film in Hindi and the Filmfare critics award for best movie and best direction for that year. Premiering in the directors' Fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes film festival, the film caused a furore, catapulting him into International success. Shekhar Introduced Cate Blanchet to the world in his two historical biopics of Queen Elizabeth, which were nominated for 7 Academy awards, including Best film, and won two, also winning 5 B BAFTA Awards, including Best film. He co-created the hit Westend show Bombay Dreams with Andrew Lloyd Webber and has been the recipient of the Indian National film Award , the BAFTA Award, the National Board of Review Award, and the three Filmfare Awards. In 2010, he served as one of the Jury members (International Competition) at the 63rd Cannes film festival, the Tokyo film festival and was one of the sponsors of the International Indian film festival in Goa. He is also a digital media entrepreneur .founding 'Quuki" one of India's most successful online platforms for young Indian creators. Shekhar says that individual creativity is often stymied by gatekeepers. Technology allows you to expand your horizons. Cinema is a social thing, you have social experience. You may have dinner at home 99 per cent of the time but still want to go out sometimes just to have a good experience same is happen with cinema. Audiences want new story ideas and experiments. He says," Somebody asked me, how do you become film-maker?" The answer is that anybody can be a filmmaker, who knows how to upload pictures and videos from his smartphones on You tube. But doesn't the viewer decide who is successful in film-making, and who is not? Shekhar answers, "Cinema develops in a certain way .Earlier people used to sit in air-conditioned comfort for three hours to watch movie, holding hands, having popcorns. You have to get ready,dress up nicely to go to the theatre to watch your favourite film. But now, things have totally change due to technology." His style of direction is unique. "I told Kate I am not the film director, I am the gardener, you have to trust, you have to provide the fundamental and you depends upon the audience." He feels trusting his instincts is a better proposition. Shekhar adds that this is a television age and social media is very much active. Top 20 users are U-tubers; there are no actors, no sports people. The top 10 models are u-tubers said, points out the noted film-maker. In his upcoming future film-project, he said that he will be making a woman-oriented film. "Women's stories excite him. They are powerful and have lot of stuff." He feels they leave a bigger impact. He started his career in Bollywood with "Masoom" and went on to become one of the most celebrated Indian filmmakers in the global circuit with "Elizabeth", but Shekhar Kapur now wants to come back home and make a movie for the Indian film industry. The 71-year-old director, however, believes he has lost his "naivety" as a filmmaker and people's expectations have only made things harder. "I am desperate to make another film in India. I want to come home and make a film. When I made Masoom, nobody was expecting anything from me. I wasn't expecting anything from myself. It is a terrible space for a filmmaker to be in. "I know I can do it but I need to bring back the madness, which is my biggest problem. Creativity comes from madness. I was a CA when I came to make films... There was a certain madness. I am now trying hard to get that back," Shekhar said he was heartbroken when the film Paanigot shelved as he had worked on the project for 15 years."Paani is a complex subject. I am good at selling films. I believe I can sell something so fast and Adi (Aditya Chopra) got caught," he quipped. "I was devastated as I was passionate about the project. I had it with me for 15 years. I was working on it for so long. It was draining, it was art. It was not like if not this, I will make something else. When I saw Sushant (Singh Rajput) I felt he is the guy," he added. Post "Paani", the director had announced that he will be working with Kangana Ranaut on a film, in which the actor will play an 85-year-old woman. Talking about the status of the movie, Shekhar said, "I am currently writing the script. It is a beautiful script."