Bollywood filmmaker Shekhar Kapur of Anil Kapoor's Mr. India fame had all the ingredients to become the mainstream Bollywood's Satyajit Ray, many used to say. He possessed an extraordinary visual command and a knack for profound emotional storytelling. His early slate proved his genius. Masoom in 1983 brought rare sensitivity to Indian mainstream cinema. Mr. India, five years later, redefined the superhero visual spectacle. Bandit Queen, in the mid-1990s, captured global attention with its raw depiction of power and suffering.
Yet, Kapur never built the vast, steady body of work that defined Ray. His path was derailed by "internal restlessness and an unpredictable working style". During the late 1980s and 1990s, he even walked out of projects, earning a bad name among producers. He even wished to make a time-travel film with Aamir Khan, but that didn't take off due to creative differences. He once also wanted to make Paani, a high-concept science fiction project set in a dystopian future.
Yet, he sacrificed so much and endured lots of pain to chase the Hollywood challenge. Kapur's Hollywood project, Elizabeth, was released in 1998. The film earned 7 Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture and Best Actress for Cate Blanchett) and won Best Makeup. He once described moving to the West, running out of money, and sleeping on friends' sofas before making Elizabeth as a necessary risk for his creative evolution.
