Shekhar Kapur
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Shekhar Kulbhushan Kapur (born 6 December 1945) is an Indian filmmaker.<ref name=TOI /> Born into the Anand-Sahni family, Kapur is the recipient of several accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a National Film Award, a National Board of Review Award and three Filmfare Awards, in addition to nomination for a Golden Globe Award.
Kapur became known in Bollywood with his recurring role in the television series Khandaan. He then made his directorial debut with cult classic Masoom in 1983, before gaining widespread acclaim with Mr. India in 1987. He then gained international recognition and acclaim in 1994 with biographical film Bandit Queen, based on the infamous Indian bandit and politician Phoolan Devi. The film premiered in the directors' fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Shekhar Kapur, exclusive interview">Template:Cite web</ref>
Kapur achieved further international prominence with the 1998 period film Elizabeth, a fictionalized account of the reign of British Queen Elizabeth I, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards. He then directed war drama film The Four Feathers (2002). In 2007, he directed Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the sequel to his 1998 film.
Shekhar Kapur was awarded Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2025.<ref name="Balakrishna, Ajith, Shekhar Kapur, Shobana honoured with Padma Bhushan, Arijit Singh, Ricky Kej conferred with Padma Shri">Template:Cite news</ref>
Early life and education
Shekhar was born on 6 December 1945 in Lahore, Punjab, British India, in a Punjabi Hindu family to Kulbhushan Kapoor, a doctor with a flourishing practice, and his wife Sheel Kanta Kapoor.<ref name=TOI>Template:Cite news</ref>
Whilst travelling on a train from the newly-created Pakistan to India, a massacre took place; Kapur's mother Sheel played dead and hid both him and his sister under her body.<ref name="HT2019">Template:Cite web</ref> Reflecting on this, Kapur stated that the partition of India happened through "the blood of one people".<ref name="HT2019"/>
The nephew of famous Indian actor Dev Anand (Kapur's mother Sheel Kanta was the sister of actors Chetan, Dev and Vijay Anand<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), he was discouraged from getting into films by his father.<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> Kapur is the only son of his parents and he has three sisters. One of his sisters, Neelu, was the first wife of actor Navin Nischol, while another sister, Aruna, is the wife of actor Parikshit Sahni. His third and youngest sister is Sohaila Kapur.
Kapur attended Modern School of New Delhi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He studied economics at St. Stephen's College. At 22, he became a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW in England, having studied accountancy at the behest of his parents.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He then started his career working with a multinational oil company. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1970, and spent several years working as an accountant and management consultant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmmaking career
In India
He turned director with the family drama Masoom (1983), starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and a young Jugal Hansraj and Urmila Matondkar. The plot followed the story of an illegitimate boy who struggles to find acceptance from his stepmother. He then directed the 1987 science-fiction film Mr. India, starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Amrish Puri in his most famous role as the villain Mogambo. Puri's most famous dialogue in this film "Mogambo Khush Hua" is still remembered.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1994 he directed the critically acclaimed Bandit Queen<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and played a cameo in the film as a truck driver.
Kapur was infamous for abandoning several films in which he was originally the director.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was originally the director of the 1989 film Joshilaay, which starred Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Meenakshi Sheshadri before leaving the production halfway, and its producer Sibti Hassan Rizvi stepped in to complete the film. In 1992, he had shot some scenes for Barsaat, which was originally titled Champion<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was going to be the debut film of Bobby Deol, but he left the production and was replaced by Rajkumar Santoshi. In 1995, he partly directed Dushmani, starring Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Manisha Koirala before its producer Bunty Soorma stepped in to complete the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Kapur was the executive producer of the film The Guru. He established an Indian film company with Ram Gopal Verma and Mani Ratnam, though the group has thus far produced only one film, Dil Se.. (1998), starring Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. Kapur executive-produced the Bollywood-themed musical Bombay Dreams by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which ran in London's the West End and on Broadway in New York City for 1 year.
In 2016, Kapur delivers an autobiographical film and documentary about Amma, well known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, called "The Science of Compassion".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
International
In 1998, he received international recognition for the second time after Bandit Queen, when he directed the Academy Award-winning period film Elizabeth, a fictional account of the reign of British Queen Elizabeth I nominated for seven Oscars. The 2007 sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, was nominated for two Oscars. He was accused of being anti-British by British tabloids for his inaccurate portrayal of the British Army in the 2002 movie The Four Feathers. He denied the accusations and stated that he was merely "anti-colonisation".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other ventures
Kapur started his career as an actor in the movie Template:Lang (1975)<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> starring Prem Kishen and Trilok Kapoor and later in Toote Khilone, in Bollywood. He appeared in several Hindi television dramas, such as Udaan (Doordarshan), opposite Kavita Chaudhary, Upanyaas<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Doordarshan) opposite Nisha Singh, and Masoom opposite Neena Gupta.
He served as judge on the reality TV series India's Got Talent, aired on Colors.
In an unusual role for him, Kapur provided the voice of Mohandas Gandhi in the Charkha Audiobooks title of The Story of My Experiments with Truth, alongside Nandita Das as narrator.Template:Citation needed
In 2013, Kapur hosted the TV show Template:Lang on ABP News. On the show, which aims to bring never-seen-before facets of Indian history, he was the narrator.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Comic book publishing
Template:Further information In 2006, Kapur formed Liquid Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focused on creating new stories and characters for a global audience. The Shakti titles of Kapur and Deepak Chopra's company debuted with Devi and The Sadhu.<ref name="Changing">How Deepak Chopra's Virgin Comics is changing comic book industry.</ref> Devi is about "a fierce feminine warrior, stronger than the Gods themselves ... a champion of the heavens, and the protector of man", while The Sadhu "is about one man's choice between his spiritual oath and his human instinct."<ref name="Changing" />
Unrealized projects
Personal life
Kapur had a relationship for seven years with actress Shabana Azmi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He first was married to Medha Gujral, niece of former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They divorced in 1994.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She died on 25 November 2014 at a hospital in New York City of liver failure following a second heart and first kidney transplant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kapur later married actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They have a daughter named Kaveri Kapur.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The couple divorced in 2007.
In March 2020, Krishnamoorthi filed a case against Kapur over a property dispute concerning their daughter Kaveri.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She claimed that the property rightfully belongs to their daughter, but has been rented to actor Kabir Bedi and his wife Parveen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
| Year | Title | Distributor |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Masoom | Bombino Video Pvt. Ltd. |
| 1987 | Mr. India | Sujata Films |
| 1994 | Bandit Queen | Kaleidoscope Entertainment/Content Flow Studios |
| 1998 | Elizabeth | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment |
| 2002 | The Four Feathers | Paramount Pictures / Buena Vista International |
| 2007 | Elizabeth: The Golden Age | Universal Pictures |
| 2022 | What's Love Got to Do with It? | StudioCanal UK |
Awards and honours
In 2000, he received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.<ref name="Padma Awards">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, he served as one of the Jury Members in international competition at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="Shekhar Kapur, exclusive interview" /><ref name="hollywoodreporter">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Kapur became the president of the Film and Television Institute of India.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2023, Kapur served as the chairperson of the International competition Jury at the 54th International Film Festival of India held from 20 November to 28 November.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
References
External links
- Template:Official website
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- Arundhati Roy on Shekhar Kapur
- New York Times Biography
- Shekhar Kapur in Interview with 99FACES.tv
- 1945 births
- Living people
- BAFTA winners (people)
- English-language film directors
- Film directors from Lahore
- Filmfare Awards winners
- Golden Orange Honorary Award winners
- Hindi-language film directors
- Indian accountants
- Indian male bloggers
- 21st-century Indian people
- Hindi film producers
- Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
- St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni
- Delhi University alumni
- 20th-century Indian people
- Male actors from Lahore
- People from Punjab Province (British India)
- Anand–Sahni family
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts