About Shekhar Kapur

Shekhar is currently working on his next film 'Paani' which is being produced by Danny Boyle. Originally from Lahore, Punjab, British India [now Pakistan], Shekhar Kapur is a master storyteller. Listen as he recounts personal stories about the evolution film, where stories come from, his illustrious career ... from his start as an Actor to his global success as Director of Bandit Queen, Elizabeth, The Four Feathers, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, including how being South Asian has played a role in his journey to success, and impart advice for all of the actors, filmmakers and dreamers looking to leave their creative mark on the world. Throughout his impressive career, Shekhar has worked with such Actors as Nasserruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Seema Biswas, Kate Hudson, Heath Ledger, Geoffery Rush, Vincent Cassel, Clive Owen, and Cate Blanchett. His historical biopics of Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age) garnered several Academy Award nominations, including two Best Actress nods for Cate Blanchett.

SAIFF 2011 Film Screenings

Abu, Son of Adam
Director: Salim Ahamed
Producer: Salim Ahamed
Cast: Salim Kumar, Zarina Wahab, Nedumudi Venu, Kalabhavan Mani, Ambika Mohan, Suraaj Venjarammoodu, Anthony Thekker, T.S Raju, Vinood Kovoor, Sasi Kalinga, Jaffar Idukki, M. R. Gopakumar and Mukesh
Country/Year: India/2011, Language: Malayalam (English subtitles), Duration: 101 mins

It's quite tough not to be moved by the heart wrenching portrayal of an old man's desire to go for the holy Hajj pilgrimage in debutant director Salim Ahmed's Adaminte Makan Abu. The film which bagged some of the most coveted honours at the national and state film awards in India, steals the viewer's hearts with its sincerity and brilliance. Salim Kumar, who plays Abu, an honest 75 year old Muslim who lives with his wife Ayisumma amazes you with his incredible histrionic excellence. It's indeed heartening that the national and state awards juries chose him for the best actor trophy for his splendid performance.

The story is happening in a remote village in northern Kerala, where the old couple lives with just one dream in their life is to go for the holy Hajj. Their son had left them after he got married to a girl from a wealthy family. With every penny that they painstakingly collect, the couple register their names with a travel agent.

The director, who is also the scenarist, pours his heart and soul into the film and the honesty with which he has approached the film is there to be seen in every frame. The film is a visual treat with Madhu Ambat's brilliant cinematography. The absorbing background score by Isaac Thomas Kottukappilly and the music by Ramesh Narayan take the film to an altogether different level.

The Temple
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Abhijeet Gholap (Devisha Films)
Cast: Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Girish Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, Kishor Kadam, Shrikant Yadav, Jyoti Subhash, Usha Nadkarni, Naseeruddin Shah & Mohan Agashe
Country/Year: India/2011, Language: Marathi (English subtitles), Duration: 135 mins

Deool is a humorous take on a small, forgotten village called Mangrool that lies in the neglected areas of Maharashtra. Years of bad weather and drought has taken a toll on the spirits of people from Mangrool. Nuanced with local village politics, hopes and aspirations of youth, the film essentially depicts the irony of Indian villages.

On a usual sleepy afternoon in the village, Kesha, a herdsman, has a divine vision (or so he feels) of Shri Guru Dutta who evolves from the silently standing Fig tree. Bewildered, Kesha runs across the village announcing the appearance of lord Dutta to the passersby.

One tells the other, he to a few more. The news spreads like a wild fire. The young guns of the village see this as a long awaited opportunity to change things in their poor village. Soon it becomes a matter of interest for the media, politicians. A decision is taken. The young guns are thrilled. A life that they saw only on television, the glitters of the cities, the intoxication of youth and a lifestyle they have been dreaming off will finally be theirs. The sleepy folks of 'Mangrool' now get ready to build a huge temple of lord 'Dutta' in their village.

Corrode
Director:Karan Gour
Producer: Karan Gour, Shaan Vyas
Cast: Rasika Dugal, Alekh Sangal, Sudhir Pendekar, Aditya Gupta, Nitika Anand, Asit Redji, Aswin Baluja and Siddharth Bhatia
Country/Year: India/2011, Language: Hindi (English subtitles), Duration: 92 mins

Corrode (Kshay) is the latest example of an exciting new wave of independent Indian cinema.

This film revolves around the personification of an obsession, fueled by nothing more than intangible desires. Chhaya (Rasika Dugal) is a simple housewife who has an artistic bent of mind and a seemingly happy life with her husband Arvind (Alekh Sangal). Money trickles in every month and life goes on for an unassuming Chhaya, until her eyes catch hold of an unfinished sculpture of the Hindu Goddess, Lakshmi.

Her values and relationships as she knows them begin to decay day by day, surrendering to the clutches of an ugly obsession that feeds on her weaknesses and past disappointments. She must have the 'Lakshmi', as if to make up for all that she has yearned for in her life. Kshay takes an unforgiving look at obsession; how it eats at the frailty of our minds, corroding reasoning, reality and emotional fulfillment.

Videokaaran
Director Jagannathan Krishnan
Cast Sagai
Country/Year: India/2011, Language: Hindi (English subtitles), Duration: 73 mins

Cinema can help you better your life. Film stars can give you moral and spiritual messages that can uplift you. Sagai believes this. Sagai is a film buff. He grew up watching films in an illegal video parlor in the Mumbai slums. When he came of age he started working in the same place, as did his father before him. In a charming, eloquent and often politically incorrect street speak, he shares the story of his theater alongside his trip with life & films.

The Stagnant
Director: Bikramjit Gupta
Producer: Absinthe, Village Post Sehore Films
Cast: Krishna Bairagi Taranga Sarkar Subir Banerjee Bindia Ghosh
Country/Year: India/2011, Language: Bengali (English subtitles), Duration: 90 mins

Krishna earns his bread by performing as a living statue on the streets of Kolkata. The only people in his life are his Uncle (Nepal Kaka), his friend Rasu and a beautiful mannequin with whom he is incurably infatuated.

Krishna's dream shatters when he finds his beloved mannequin without a head. As he begins to madly scour the streets in search of her head, his uncle Nepal Kaka breathes his last breathe, ironically while performing as a statue and his friend Rasu's also spirals into drug addiction leading to his death in a freak accident.

Having lost his love, uncle, and friend, life becomes an agony for Krishna. The only thing he has now is his livelihood as a living statue.

It's love in Bihar!
Director: Praveen Kumar
Producer: Andaaz Productions
Cast: Anand Tiwari, Sita Ragione,Spada, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Dadhi Raj, Sadiya Siddiqui, Pitobash, Uttam Halder, Vivek Setia
Country/Year: India/2011, Language: Hindi (English subtitles), Duration: 97mins

He has a record for flunking exams. He is kicked out of school. He assists his father on the truck and watches the corruption and violence unfold before his eyes. Not much hope for a bright and prosperous future for Kishu... Then he falls in love. She is a beautiful American girl - Sapna. She has come to Bihar to research on Madhubani Paintings. To pursue her studies she ventures into risky areas... The odds are heavily against Kishu - her protective, rich upper caste uncle, his own temperamental father, the social distance. .. But Kishu is irreversibly and irrevocably in love. And is determined to find out - What Is Love? Aided by his friends, he tries to explore this romance and then when it seems to them that things might just click Sapna's American boyfriend comes visiting... And then Sapna is kidnapped. Why should Kishu care? But Kishu realizes the wisdom of the ancients - In love, the stream flows backward-the one who stakes all and loses is the winner- It's love in Bihar!

The Error Attack!
Director: Shubh Mukherjee
Country: India/2011, Duration: 123 mins.

The Error Attack (Shakal Pe Mat Ja) is a story of 4 young boys who get caught up as suspects at the Delhi international airport, on a high alert day. They get caught while capturing an American Airlines aircraft landing on their camera, which they claim to have shot for a documentary that they are making. As the film progresses, these simple guys get into crazy trouble. Everything that they say or possess or even do leads them to further obstacles. At the same time the Intelligence has reports that a group of terrorists are planning some sort of an attack.

Could these four innocent looking guys be hard core terrorists involved in one of the biggest terror plans?

The Error Attack ... is a film which deals with all such deceptive goof ups, mistaken identities & madness created due to being there at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Visit www.saiff.org for further details.