“I make films because I love working with actors” says Shekhar Kapoor

"My life depends on my actors, for ultimately it's the actors that make a great film. The best script in the world, the greatest visual effects, music, and brilliant designs are all there to complement the actors.

There is no greater landscape than an actor's face, for since we were babies, we have been comprehending the world through the way adults interacted with us. We learned how to interpret eye movements, changes in voice tones, anger, compassion, and love by watching and observing adult behavior.

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You know how excited we get when practically newborn babies smile? More often than not, they are not smiling but copying their mother's expressions. They observe how, by the act of smiling, they can evoke pleasurable responses from adults. And so, for the rest of our lives, we emotionally connect with stories not just through the written words, but also through the actor's responses to those written words. This is why a close-up is such an amazing tool to tell intimate stories.

What is my role as a director? To create a bubble within which the actors are comfortable exploring their own selves and finding the characters that the writer wrote, within themselves. It's a bubble of trust, love, and compassion that we all explore together – a bubble in which we can reveal our inner selves without fear."

Kapur's journey commenced with his acting debut in the film 'Jaan Hazir Hai' (1975) and subsequently in the Bollywood production 'Toote Khilone.' He graced the screen in numerous Hindi television dramas as well, including 'Udaan' (Doordarshan), where he starred alongside Kavita Chaudhary, 'Upanyaas' (Doordarshan) opposite Nisha Singh, and "Masoom" opposite Neena Gupta.

Shekhar Kapoor is known for his films like 'Masoom' (1983), 'Mr. India' (1987), 'Bandit Queen' (1994), 'Elizabeth PolyGram' (1998), 'The Four Feathers' (2002), 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' (2007), and 'What's Love Got to Do with It?' (2022).