{"id":186371,"date":"2023-12-06T12:26:26","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T12:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansapidnews.com\/?p=186371"},"modified":"2023-12-06T12:26:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T12:26:26","slug":"have-i-achieved-what-i-wanted-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansapidnews.com\/tv-movies\/have-i-achieved-what-i-wanted-to\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Have I achieved what I wanted to?’"},"content":{"rendered":"
‘People don’t know even 20 percent of what I did.’<\/strong><\/p>\n Even as Shekhar Kapur turns 78 on December 6, there is a youthfulness about him.<\/p>\n He is naturally friendly and doesn’t have to make an effort to be gregarious.<\/p>\n Like his uncle Dev Anand, he is curious about other people’s lives.<\/p>\n He asks a million questions.<\/p>\n He wants to know about what you read, what you eat, which are your favourite films, what you think of his rather slender oeuvre, do you like Mr India<\/em> more than Masoom<\/em>, how many times have you seen Bandit Queen<\/em>…<\/p>\n In 1983, after a dodgy stint as an actor (Toote Khilone, Jaan Haazir Hai, Udaan, Swayamsiddha<\/em>) Shekhar turned director with Masoom<\/em>, a stellar adaptation of Erich Segal’s Man Woman & Child,<\/em> which immediately established him as one of the foremost film-making voices in India.<\/p>\n Segal’s tearjerker novel about a family man who brings home his illegitimate child was made into an insipid Hollywood film featuring Blythe Danner and Martin Sheen.<\/p>\n Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah were much better in the desi<\/em> version.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He followed it up four years later with the endearing Mr India<\/em>.<\/p>\n It’s the film he’s most known for in India, and its popularity has grown over time.<\/p>\n When Shekhar made Mr India<\/em>, he wanted to make sure the audience remained glued to the seat for two-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 40 years, Shekhar Kapur has directed only seven feature films because, as Sanjay Kapoor once put it rather bluntly, Shekhar is a ‘lazy guy’. Lazy or restless, Shekhar is back with his first feature film in 13 years.<\/p>\n What’s Love Got To Do With It<\/em> reunites him with Shabana Azmi after Masoom<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His dream project remains Paani<\/em>, which he prepped for Yash Raj Films for four years with Sushant Singh Rajput and then abandoned.<\/p>\n Shekhar was planning Paani<\/em> for decades. In the period, he made only one feature film, two short films and a segment of New York, I Love You<\/em>. He also directed some episodes for a series on William Shakespeare.<\/p>\n He hopes to revive Paani<\/em>. The theme of water shortage is so against the studio style of film-making in the West that Shekhar doesn’t want to make it with their money.<\/p>\n During the lockdown in 2020, Shekhar had told Subhash K Jha<\/strong> that he had no regrets about his sparse output.<\/p>\n “I just want to be the conduit of my dreams. I have had a brilliant life. Couldn’t have asked for more,” he says.<\/p>\n “People don’t know even 20 percent of what I did. From films to musical stage shows all over the world to being at MIT to do a series of lectures all over the world, to tech start-ups before the word start-up became popular…<\/p>\n “I’ve been an accountant, a management, a consultant…<\/p>\n “I’ve been so busy doing things and this is the time to reflect. This is the time for me think about my life. Have I achieved what I wanted to?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n