News from the waterfront
Shekhar Kapur is back in Mumbai for good, and set to start filming Paani
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Posted On Friday, November 16, 2007
Parag Maniar
Known
for his pending film projects, Shekhar Kapur is in the news again with
Paani. The film is about a futuristic water scarcity scenario all over
the world. The director who has shifted base to Mumbai to be with his
daughter reveals details about his film.
Says
Shekhar, "Imagine a filthy rich man living in Malabar Hill, having a
palatial home with a private swimming pool in which he can dip into
anytime he wants! And on the other hand there are some ordinary people
waiting outside his house to have some water from that pool to quench
their thirst."
The director says that the situation will be a
reality in future in major metropolis like New York, Tokyo, London and
Mumbai. Of course, there is a love story woven into the film.
Shekhar
also reveals that a film like Paani requires an exorbitant budget,
approximately $ 300 million. It will be made in English for an
international release. "The actors will be from India and abroad. But I
plan to raise funds from India so that people here can enjoy the
returns that the film makes all over the world," says Shekhar.
The
director has shifted base to Mumbai. He says, "I have returned from
London for good. I will keep shuffling between Los Angeles and Mumbai.
There’s immense curiosity about Bollywood in Los Angeles and I want to
bridge the gap between the two biggest film industries. There’s a whole
world that is still to be explored.”
Shekhar adds, “The other reason I want to be in Mumbai is because I want to be
close to my seven-year-old daughter.”
Shekhar
Kapur is currently looking forward to the release of Elizabeth -The
Golden Age, a sequel to the 1998 hit Elizabeth. When asked for his
reaction to the British tabloids accusing his films on Elizabeth that
were anti-French, anti-British and anti-Spanish.
Shekhar
replies, “It is my interpretation of history and as a creative director
I have the right to tell a story the way I want to. The British like to
believe that Queen Elizabeth was their virgin queen. They give her the
status of Virgin Mother Mary. So they strongly condemned the scene
where I have shown the queen having sex like any other normal woman.
But it is this conflict of being a divine woman and wanting to have sex
that inspired the sequel Elizabeth-The Golden Age. It also shows the
Queen protecting the interest of Protestants by bravely fighting King
Philip II who forcibly wants them to adopt Catholicism.”
Mumbai Mirror
