Shekhar Kapur's Hollywood Gamble: 'Risking Everything' at His Peak!

Despite being at the height of his glory in the Indian film business, acclaimed director Shekhar Kapur, known for classic films like Mr. India and Bandit Queen, recently talked about his intention to leave India and pursue a career in Hollywood. He openly discussed how, during this period, he risked everything to pursue artistic challenges in Hollywood, even running out of money.

Shekhar Kapur was urged by an X user on Tuesday to "teach some directing skills" to other Indian directors, who he believed were reliant on item numbers and stars.

 

To that, Kapur responded, "Many years ago, after Bandit Queen became the most celebrated film at the Cannes Film Festival, I was faced with a decision. I could’ve stayed on in India. But after Masoom, Mr India and Bandit Queen, I needed to climb a higher mountain. I needed to challenge failure again."

 

It read further, "Many years ago, after Bandit Queen became the most celebrated film at the Cannes Film Festival, I was faced with a decision. I could’ve stayed on in India. But after Masoom, Mr India and Bandit Queen, I needed to climb a higher mountain. I needed to challenge failure again."

"So I gave up everything .. and went to Hollywood and started all over again. Ran out of money. Slept on friend’s Sofas. Fought hard all over again," he further revealed.

 

Kapur went on to say, "And after 3 years of that I made Elizabeth. Got nominated for 8 Oscars, include Best Picture. When only 5 films were nominated, not 10. The lesson? At every point of your life , be willing to risk everything if you want to look for new horizons. That’s what Director’s in India need to do .. risk everything for creative challenge..," he ended chat.

 

Shekhar Kapur made waves a few days ago when he accused an over-the-top platform of modifying his highly regarded 1994 picture Bandit Queen without his consent.

According to reports, the filmmaker vented his annoyance on social media, complaining that the Bandit Queen version that was accessible on Amazon Prime was significantly modified and hardly resembled his original work.

 

He noted that no one had consulted him over the editing and that the movie still gave him credit as the director in spite of the modifications. In addition, Kapur wondered if Indian filmmakers received less respect than their Western colleagues.