20 September,2017 01:08 PM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu
While Kapur is restricted when it comes to accepting contemporary trends, he doesn't fail to appreciate the way technology has changed cinema. We can reach 800 million people through cell phones. India must explore its options.
Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in Mr India (1987); (below) director
While filmmakers have been treating moviegoers to fascinating adaptations of old classics to suit modern sensibilities, Shekhar Kapur hopes his 1987 drama, Mr India, doesn't catch the fancy of young directors. "When projects become so successful, revisiting them can ruin the memories associated with the original. I have made that film once, and won't do it again. People have come to me with proposals and an assurance that their adaptation will be a R300 crore outing, one that will run for three weeks. Mr India ran for 30 years, and people talk about making a film that airs for three weeks," he scoffs.
The filmmaker acknowledges that his long-in-the-making project, Paani, which was to be helmed by Yash Raj Films, has yet to see the light of the day. "Jab duniya mein paani khatam ho jayega, tab meri paani banegi," he jokes, adding that the success of the Baahubali franchise has made him revisit it, and consider a two-part release.
Shekhar Kapur
While Kapur is restricted when it comes to accepting contemporary trends, he doesn't fail to appreciate the way technology has changed cinema. "We can reach 800 million people through cell phones. India must explore its options."
