Shekhar Kapur

Shekhar Kulbhushan Kapur (born 6 December 1945) is an Indian filmmaker and actor. 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, it was premiered in the directors fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Kapur achieved further international prominence with the 1998 period film '' Elizabeth'', a fictional 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 '' Elizabeth'' film.

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.

While on a train from the newly created Pakistan to India, a massacre took place; Kapur's mother Sheel played dead and hid both himself and his sister under her body. Reflecting on this, Kapur stated that the partition of India happened through "the blood of one people".

The nephew of famous Indian actor Dev Anand, he was discouraged from getting into films by his father. Sheel Kanta was the sister of actors Chetan, Dev and Vijay Anand. 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. 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. 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.

Career

In India

Kapur started his career as an actor in the movie ''Jaan Hazir Hai'' (1975) and later in '' Toote Khilone'', in Bollywood. He appeared in several Hindi television dramas, such as '' Udaan (Doordarshan)'', opposite Kavita Chaudhary, ''Upanyaas'' (Doordarshan) opposite Nisha Singh, and ''Masoom'' opposite Neena Gupta.

He turned director with the family drama '' Masoom'' (1983), starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and a young Jugal Hansraj & 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. In 1994 he directed the critically acclaimed ''Bandit Queen'' and played a cameo in the film as a truck driver.

Kapur was infamous for abandoning several films he was originally the director of. 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'' 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.

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 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.

In 2013, Kapur hosted the TV show '' Pradhanmantri'' on ABP News. On the show, which aims to bring never-seen-before facets of Indian history, he was the narrator.

He served as judge on the reality TV series ''India's Got Talent'', aired on Colors.

In 2016, Kapur delivers an autobiographical film and documentary about Amma, well known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, called "The Science of Compassion".

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 portrayal of the British Army in the 2002 movie '' The Four Feathers''. However, he denied the accusations and stated that he was merely "anti-colonisation".

Future projects

It was announced in March 2019 that Kapur will be directing a TV series for Endemol Shine based on historical novels by Amitav Ghosh

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