Director Shekhar Kapur will be a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, the mother of all film festivals. Dressed in summer casuals, seated at his Mumbai office, a relaxed Shekhar Kapur says: “It's an honour, for the festival is as prestigious as the Oscars. I'll have the rare opportunity to view and judge some of the most memorable contemporary films. It'll also give me a chance to interact with the best filmmakers from all over the world.”
And, the conversation veers towards his uncles. Recalls Shekhar: “My maternal uncle Chetan Anand is India's first director to win the grand prix at Cannes, jointly with Sir David Lean in 1946; it was for Neecha Nagar . In 1950, he was invited to be a jury member at Cannes, but he refused, as he did not consider himself worthy. He was a visionary, who experimented with cinema the way no one did, during his time. As for Dev Anand, he's dynamic, evergreen and a gifted actor, whose talent hasn't been used to the full. He's envied by the present generation for the way he's carrying on even today! Vijay Anand was a master technician and a perfectionist, who achieved it all with Guide .”
The reputed filmmaker of
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Interestingly, it's been a while since Shekhar Kapur directed. His last tryst with the megaphone was
He has joined hands with actor Julia Roberts, who'll be producing Mallory , a film on the life of mountaineer George Mallory. How will it be to direct a film produced by Julia Roberts? Shekhar smiles: “It's too early to divulge the details. Let's wait.”
Shekhar Kapur once called Bollywood a big bazaar. Does he still believe that? He laughs: “With corporates getting into film production, there's a lot of discipline. Actors are ready to experiment. But, I doubt if Bollywood will ever be able to produce an
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