Is Shekhar Kapur quitting films?

If Shekhar Kapur decides to quit films, it will undoubtedly herald the end of an era.

I now travel in search of devotion or to what do I wake up in the morning? I ask forgiveness of my fans if that journey means no more films.

I’ve never met Shekhar Kapur. Till a couple of years ago, I had nothing in common in with him except the day of birth. Sometime then, the desire to direct and produce films totally captivated me, and Shekhar Kapur has been a huge influence all along these years. But today is different. Today is sad. Just a few hours ago I was shocked to see his status message on Twitter: “I now travel in search of devotion or to what do I wake up in the morning? I ask forgiveness of my fans if that journey means no more films.”

For those who don’t know, Shekhar Kapur started as a Chartered Accountant in his early twenties and spent several years as an accountant and a management consultant in the UK. By the time he was a little shy of 30, he started his Bollywood sojourn as an actor in the movie “Jaan Hazir Hai”. In 1983 he dished out his first movie as a director - “Masoom”. A few years later, in 1987, the popular Mr India became immensely successful and brought the science-fiction genre to the masses in India. Of a special mention is the movie Bandit Queen based on the life of Phoolan Devi. The film saw a Shekhar Kapur unafraid to jolt the audience with reconstructed scenes of major turning-points in Phoolan Devi’s life. Of course there were questions about the historical accuracy amongst other things like nudity, but the film went on to win several awards including the National Award in 1996.

Next stop? Hollywood. His film “Elizabeth” (circa 1998), a fictional account about the reign of Queen Elizabeth was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Without a doubt, Shekhar Kapur had arrived. In 2007, he came out with a sequel that got two Academy Award nominations. In 2002, he directed the action drama “The Four Feathers” set during British army’s Gordon Relief Expedition. For his work, Shekhar Kapur was literally targeted by factions of the British press for his portrayal of the Empire and its Army. As usual, the controversy found Shekhar Kapur boldly unafraid.

There are lighter sides too. Shekhar Kapur produced the pseudo-spiritual comedy “The Guru” and a Bollywood-themed musical called “Bombay Dreams”. Bombay Dreams won many awards and ran at Broadway for 280+ performances since 2004. It also ran in the West End from for two years since June 2002.

It was a good decision since people weren’t interested in a story about the struggles of a black man.

One popular account details how he came to sign The Long Walk to Freedom, an autobiographical account of Nelson Mandela’s life… While the virtue of being an Indian made Shekhar Kapur conversant with inequality, injustice and prejudice, but he didn’t quite understand the extreme conditions of apartheid. He never really understood the anger behind being treated as a different species because one is black. As a result, he turned the movie down. Later, in the office of an important Hollywood studio executive, Shekhar Kapur announced turning down The Long Walk to Freedom. The executive told him, “It was a good decision since people weren’t interested in a story about the struggles of a black man.” Infuriated by the comment, he managed to contain himself and excused himself to the rest-room. In the rest-room, he called his agent and told him to accept the movie right away.

Other accounts say that Shekhar Kapur can hold a conversation on practically anything and everything under the Sun. If nothing more, the diversity of his work is a testament. Lately, I found his bouts with Tavleen Singh on Anna Hazare and his movement to rid India of corruption extremely hard to disagree with.

As I’ve grown from the fluff of Mr India when I was six-years-old to the the serious relevance of his later works, I desperately want to see his much anticipated works that are yet to come… Set in the near future, “Paani”, is about war and politics when potable water disappears from planet Earth. Shooting is to begin in November this year. Unfortunately, with Shekhar’s recent tweet, both the projects, “Paani” and “The Long Walk to Freedom”, now seem to be in a limbo. If Shekhar Kapur decides to quit making films, it will be the end of an era: A sad end to an eclectic mix of courage, fact, fantasy, fiction, powerful performances, passion, courage and utter bravado. As I’ve grown, I’ve also learnt that it is not the politicians, but the artists, scientists, poets, story-tellers, engineers, singers, writers and film-makers that tie nations together.