All posts tagged: Shekhar Kapur

Shekhar Kapur says Manipuri film Boong was better than main BAFTA winners: ‘Westerners did not get it’

Shekhar Kapur says Manipuri film Boong was better than main BAFTA winners: ‘Westerners did not get it’

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The BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards were held in London on Sunday evening, and Lakshmipriya Devi’s Manipuri film Boong won the Best Children’s and Family Film award. While congratulatory messages poured in for the team, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur batted for the film, stating that it was better than the films that won in the main categories. Shekhar Kapur says Boong was better than the films that won in main categories for BAFTA. Shekhar Kapur on Boong being better than other BAFTA winners In September 22, 2025, Shekhar had posted his review of Boong on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “The funniest, most heartwarming, the most heartbreaking film I’ve seen in a long time. And yet it packs a solid political punch. Manipuri director, Laxmipriya shows us how it’s done. Don’t miss it.” Reposting his review, he now wrote, “Congratulations to Laxmipriya for winning the BAFTA for the best family film.” Shekhar also believed that Boong would’ve fared better at BAFTA if westerners understood the nuances, writing, “I thought BOONG was better than …

Shekhar Kapur predicts AI-created stars in future who ‘won’t ask for a raise’: ‘Wo beemar nahi hogi’ | Bollywood News

Shekhar Kapur predicts AI-created stars in future who ‘won’t ask for a raise’: ‘Wo beemar nahi hogi’ | Bollywood News

Published by Parlour News

3 min readKochiFeb 18, 2026 10:07 PM IST Amid growing concerns over the rise and popularity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential impact across various fields, legendary director Shekhar Kapur recently shared his two cents on the technology’s possible influence on cinema. Maintaining that there could be AI-created stars in the future, he recalled an incident when his cook approached him with a script for Mr India 2 created using a generative AI chatbot. Kapur explained that unlike human celebrities, AI-created stars won’t refuse to show up for work due to health issues or ask for a raise. “Agar AI creative star ban gaya, wo beemar nahi hogi agar heroine hai. Hero hai to beemar nahi hoga, na kahega ‘arey main nahi aata shooting pe,’ ‘meri price badha do’ – you own it (If AI becomes a creative star, the heroine won’t fall ill, nor will the hero. It won’t say, ‘Hey, I’m not coming to the shoot’ or ‘increase my fee,’ because you own it),” he said during a conversation with Times Now. …

Shekhar Kapur calls AI ‘democratic,’ says ‘we’re going to add a trillion dollars a year to our GDP’

Shekhar Kapur calls AI ‘democratic,’ says ‘we’re going to add a trillion dollars a year to our GDP’

Published by Webster

Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has lauded the growing architecture for Artificial Intelligence in India, saying the country has the potential to add a trillion dollars a year to its GDP. Shekhar Kapur said that AI’s democratic nature makes it accessible to everyone. (REUTERS) Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the AI summit, Shekhar talked about the growing interest in artificial intelligence among the youth. “If you had announced a summit on AI a year ago, nobody would be here. One year later, half a million young people have come, all looking for opportunity. That’s what’s incredible in India,” he told ANI. He said India is an incredibly innovative nation, and AI’s democratic nature makes it accessible to everyone. “I think that AI, because it’s so democratic, if you haven’t been to IIT, if you haven’t been to the big educational institute, or you’ve not been to the Pune institute, it doesn’t matter because AI will give you everything that you want from there. After that, it’s how innovative, how courageous, how provocative, how intuitive …

Angry boys surrounded Shekhar Kapoor after Masoom flopped on day 1: They lost all their money, told me not to make ‘Article films’ | Bollywood News

Angry boys surrounded Shekhar Kapoor after Masoom flopped on day 1: They lost all their money, told me not to make ‘Article films’ | Bollywood News

Published by Parlour News

5 min readNew DelhiFeb 9, 2026 11:49 AM IST Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, known for iconic films like Masoom, Mr. India, and Bandit Queen, took to X on Monday to share how his directorial debut, Masoom, had a rocky start at the box office, making him think that his career is over, only for it to become a hit days later. The filmmaker shared a throwback photo with the film’s ensemble cast, including Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Urmila Matondkar, and Jugal Hansraj. He described how he walked into the theatre on the first day of the release and found just one more person beside him in the cinema hall. Shekhar Kapur recalls poor opening of Masoom “On the first day of release, I went to the main theatre… and there were only two people in the whole cinema hall… and one of them was me!” he wrote. He opened up about the prevalence of ticket black marketing at the time, where young men and gangs would buy up cinema seats to resell at higher prices. Kapur …

Shekhar Kapur reviews Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar after Netflix release, says he missed it in theatres due to Gulf ban

Shekhar Kapur reviews Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar after Netflix release, says he missed it in theatres due to Gulf ban

Published by Parlour News

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur took to his social media on Monday to share his review of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar after its Netflix release. Stating that director Aditya deserves all the praise he’s been receiving, the filmmaker also revealed that he missed watching the Ranveer Singh-starrer in theatres due to the Gulf ban. Ranveer Singh plays an Indian spy in Aditya Dhar’s action film Dhurandhar. Shekhar Kapur reviews Dhurandhar Shekhar took to his X (formerly Twitter) to share his review of Dhurandhar. Stating that he looks forward to Dhurandhar 2 when it releases on March 19, he wrote, “Finally saw #Dhurandhar on Netflix. Terrific storytelling and very high level of performances even from minor roles. Director #AdityaDhar deserves all the praise he’s getting. Congratulations producer #jyotideshpande and looking forward to #Dhurandhar2.” When a fan commented under Shekar’s post, writing, “It is rare for a ‘Part 1’ to stand on its own while setting up a ‘Part 2.’ Usually, they feel incomplete. Dhurandhar managed to deliver a full meal while promising a banquet. The scale of Indian storytelling …

Sushant Singh Rajput’s dedication made Shekhar Kapur ‘fall in love’ with the actor; their film was shelved: ‘He refused many films for this’ | Bollywood News

Sushant Singh Rajput’s dedication made Shekhar Kapur ‘fall in love’ with the actor; their film was shelved: ‘He refused many films for this’ | Bollywood News

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Sushant Singh Rajput was one of the most loved stars of the Hindi film industry. He starred in several critically acclaimed films like Kai Po Che, Sonchiriya, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story and others. Sushant was also set to collaborate with acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur for the ambitious project Paani. The actor had already begun rehearsals for the film and had prepared for it for nearly three months. However, at the last minute, Yash Raj Films (YRF) pulled the plug on the project. Paani was ultimately shelved. ‘Sushant was excited to star in Paani’ In an earlier Instagram Live session with Manoj Bajpayee, Shekhar spoke about how excited Sushant was about the project. He said, “He was bouncing up and down, so excited that he was going to work with me and do Paani. The great thing about Sushant that I noticed was that acting did not stop with rehearsing the lines or reading the script or doing the movements. His interest went way beyond… Every time I had a meeting with the production designer …

Shekhar Kapur reveals biggest MISTAKE Bollywood is making, says ‘They have become…’

Shekhar Kapur reveals biggest MISTAKE Bollywood is making, says ‘They have become…’

Published by Parlour News

EXCLUSIVE: Shekhar Kapur reveals biggest MISTAKE Bollywood is making, says ‘They have become…’ Home News and Gossip EXCLUSIVE: Shekhar Kapur reveals biggest MISTAKE Bollywood is making, says ‘They have become…’ In a recent exclusive interview with Bollywood Life, Kapur laid out his views quite openly about the evolution of Indian cinema. Along with that, he answered a range of questions regarding the industry and the films, one of which was “Why is South Indian cinema dominating Bollywood increasingly?” Bollywood was once the only representative of the whole country when it came to cinema. The tide, however, has changed today quite obviously. The Hindi film industry looks like it has lost its grip in the last few years, while the South Indian film industry has come up and is not only occupying the box office but also the hearts of people in India all over. Consequently, even the biggest stars from Bollywood are now facing unanticipated battles. However, the question …

Jackie Shroff spun Urmila Matondkar so aggressively in ‘Hai Rama’ she got a bruise, recalls Ahmed Khan: ‘I was too young to…’ | Bollywood News

Jackie Shroff spun Urmila Matondkar so aggressively in ‘Hai Rama’ she got a bruise, recalls Ahmed Khan: ‘I was too young to…’ | Bollywood News

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Ahmed Khan’s breakthrough as a choreographer happened with Ram Gopal Varma’s 1995 blockbuster romantic film Rangeela. One of his most memorable songs from the film was “Hai Rama,” filmed on Jackie Shroff and Urmila Matondkar. Ahmed recently recalled how in a dance sequence, Jackie lifted and spun Urmila so aggressively that she even got a bruise. “Jaggu da makes it look very rough, but he’s not. He’s a soft man. But the way he held her, he got Urmila in one or two places. We were shooting their catfight sequence in Mehboob Studio. He had to turn and spin her. He really spun her because that’s the moment we wanted her to take a full pivot. That’s when she got a bruise on her arm,” recalls Ahmed on the inaugural edition of SCREEN Spotlight. “Jaggu da told me, ‘Bhedu, tu tension mat le. Main sab sambhal loonga.’ And I was very young to tell him to hold the girl passionately. How would a 19-year-old teach it, that too to Jaggu da? I still remember Jaggu …

IFFI gets flak for its all-male jury panel in Indian Panorama, netizens say ‘lack of women in the jury is glaring, do better’ | Bollywood News

IFFI gets flak for its all-male jury panel in Indian Panorama, netizens say ‘lack of women in the jury is glaring, do better’ | Bollywood News

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The 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held in Panaji, Goa from November 20 to 28 and will feature over 240 films from 81 countries, including 13 world premieres, five international premieres, and 44 Asian premieres.  With filmmaker Shekhar Kapur serving as the festival director, IFFI also unveiled its jury for the Indian Panorama section on Monday. The feature film jury is headed by actor Raja Bundela, while Dharam Gulati leads the jury for non-feature category. Other jury members include Krishna Hebbale, Kamlesh K Mishra, Malay Ray, Subhash Sehgal, Jadumoni Dutta, Aroon Baksi, Asim Sinha, Ashok Sharan, Sukumar Jatania, BS Basavaraju, Amaresh Chakrabarti, and Napoleon Thanga. The internet was quick to point out that the jury did not have any women. The comments section of IFFI’s Instagram had posts from users who highlighted this. “All men?,” asked a user. “Lack of women in the jury is glaring, do better!,” commented another. “Women jury in a separate post?,” asked a user sarcastically. Another one added on the same lines: “Is there a separate …

Army subedaar turned outlaw, killed 9 to avenge wrong, was denied water and left to die; film on his life got Irrfan Khan his only National Award | Bollywood News

Army subedaar turned outlaw, killed 9 to avenge wrong, was denied water and left to die; film on his life got Irrfan Khan his only National Award | Bollywood News

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Cinema can be a compelling medium that inspires people to take drastic steps in life — but it’s also a two-way street. Just as films draw from real life, some lives are so extraordinary that they deserve to be told on the big screen. Such was the life of Paan Singh Tomar, an Army Subedar turned seven-time national steeplechase champion who later became a feared dacoit; his story brought to life by the inmitable Irrfan Khan. Paan Singh Tomar was born in Bhidosa, on the banks of the Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh. He hailed from the same notorious region as Phoolan Devi, the Bandit Queen, whose life inspired Shekhar Kapur’s National Award-winning film. Like many from the region, Tomar joined the Indian Army as a Subedar, but his exceptional running skills were soon noticed and he became an athelete. He represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. However, he couldn’t perform well because he was given new shoes just two days before the tournament. Tomar was a contemporary of Milkha Singh …