In this candid interview with IMPACT Magazine, internationally acclaimed filmmaker and storyteller Shekhar Kapur delves into the evolving language of cinema, the emotional spine of his upcoming film Masoom 2, and how social media is reshaping the destiny of films long before release. From Mr. India to Masoom, Kapur reflects on the power of stories, the idea of home, and why the most powerful narratives often emerge from the most unexpected places.
Watch the full video here
Here are the edited excerpts:
Q) From Masoom to Mr. India, your films have always explored the space between reality and myth. Do you see AI as the next great myth we’re all trying to understand or a reality we should get used to?
It's a reality that is already here and if you have not recognised it, you are in deep trouble. It's an amazing reality — most of the big AI companies are talking about trillion-dollar investments and everybody gets scared, but that's not where AI is coming from. AI is coming from the bottom of the pyramid. It's like they said the same thing about digital. But AI will take off where it's most needed and because it's the most democratic technology we have ever had, it gives the opportunity to people, who we call at the bottom of the pyramid, to explore themselves. And we question, what will happen to jobs? I keep telling my friends, this is your job you better be careful of, because the people that you hire and lock them into the idea of a job, they are human minds, they are imaginative minds, and once they get access to AI, they will want to explore the imagination more. They are not going to want to work for you because you lock them into a job. So, it's a huge surge from actually the bottom up, not from top down. That's what I love about it being such a democratic technology.
I'll give you an instance — Mr. India 2. Everybody keeps talking about Mr. India 2 and I have said I can't direct it, but I'll find a story. The best of writers came, gave stories, good stories, but one day, my cook said, sir, I have also written a story. I read it and honestly, it was the best. Upon asking him how he came about it, he said he got it from my computer, from Chat GPT. So, this was four months ago, my cook is now turning into a writer. He has discovered a new thing. That's what's going to happen. People are going to discover their fundamental creative selves. And so, that's what's going to be the rise of humanity.
Q) Do you think AI and creativity can co-exist in a classroom and how do you think MICA will bring in the balance?
Classroom is nothing. If you cannot expand beyond the classroom, there is no classroom that's worth it. The idea of teaching is not about teaching, but that of learning, and your learning cannot be confined to a classroom. So, when I was talking to all the professors and everybody at MICA, it was more about learning than about teaching. Teaching is the aspect of provoking you to learn and provoking you to find out what is not. We all know what it is. You just go to any textbook, you'll find it. But from that platform, you discover what is not. What is not is what inspires you. That makes you inquisitive and curious and full of wonder. Wonder, curious, inquisitive is what every teaching should do.
Q) Even though content is still king, do you think a film's fate is decided much before the release through social media buzz and promotions?
Yes, the marketing of the film is very, very important these days. We used to show trailers earlier but now the trailers have become TikTok and are on social media. But it can also harm in ways. So, you have to be very careful as you release a film and make sure that your social media actually gives out the real message of the film and not the gossip message of the film. The gossip message of the film can actually harm the film.
Q) You also recently, in November, announced Masoom 2. Tell us more about the film, the cast and what we can expect from the film?
Well, the cast is Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Manoj Bajpayee, Nithya Menen and one more person that I have to cast. Kaveri Kapur, my daughter, is playing the granddaughter in the film.
The film is about home and identity. Because a lot of the world and especially India, all of India is migrants, not immigrants but migrants. From small villages to big villages, villages to towns, towns to huge towns, from huge cities to overseas, Indians spread all over. So, in that sense, what does home mean anymore? What happens to the people you have left behind? Is home just like how turtles move? We, a lot of us migrants, have those shells on our back and wherever we are, we go into our shell. We carry that shell wherever we go. So, what is that shell? What is the emotion that we are trying to carry? What's our relationship? Who are we? And what does home mean? That's a fundamental thing that it's about.
Q) About 30 years from now, if an AI filmmaker was to direct a film on you, then what is that one moment, one scene that you wouldn't want that filmmaker to miss?
I'm really open. I want them to direct a very scene I don't want to be shown. That's what being creative is about, it is to be so open. I ask my actors always; I look for those things they don't want to talk about. Then it's my job to make them go back into that part or scene and open themselves out. And that's what makes a great performance. So, yes, I want them to discover what I don't want to talk about.
