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Shekhar Kapur on directing 'What's Love Got To Do With It', playing now in UAE

The Oscar-nominated director spoke to City Times about the idea of modern love and why he chose to direct a rom-com

Size or style has never substituted substance in Shekhar Kapur’s films. Whether it was fantasy like Mr. India or a biopic like Bandit Queen or the elaborately showcased Elizabeth, Kapur has always had an incisive non-formulaic tale to tell.

What’s common across his projects is that he always placed great importance on the story and brought many a sharply delineated character to life that went on to create a benchmark in the world of films.

A creative nomad who indulges in artistic projects across the globe and identifies himself as an eternal seeker, Kapur had recently served a role as part of the Cultural Advisors of Expo 2020 Dubai.

There he also partnered with A.R. Rahman for The Musical, a landmark spectacle in English featuring 100-plus dancers with seven new compositions from Rahman. His latest outing as a director is a British romantic comedy film called What’s Love Got To Do With It, from a screenplay by Jemima Khan. The film stars Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Sajal Aly and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and is currently playing in UAE cinemas.

City Times spoke to the Oscar-nominated director about the film and his collaboration with Shabana Azmi after almost four decades, post his first film Masoom.

Western family dramas set in the South Asian community often tend to portray stereotypes about Indians or Pakistanis in the context of arranged marriages, nosy relatives, large families etc. Have you tried to change the narrative with this film?

I never looked at it as a Pakistani or Asian story specifically. When the script was narrated to me, I felt as if it could be any family - Indian, Chinese, Arab and so on. The story is so international and universal in nature that you cannot categorize it geographically. It’s similar to a Jewish family in New York or a Chinese family in Canada. The characters just happen to belong to a certain country and are settled in the United Kingdom.

There are so many people living as expats in the West so it’s true for all. I see my characters as human beings and not nationalities. I have made this film with a hope that people will relate to the story as humans and forget culture clashes for the time being.

You have come back to making films after a long time. Why did you choose a rom-com to return to films?

I wasn’t away or detached really. I was making a TV series in America which is about the exploits of William Shakespeare when he was in his early 20s; it’s called Will. I was doing stage musicals; I did one in Germany and another one in South Korea. I am a teacher at MIT as well, and you know how engaging and demanding that can be. I have been a part of the World Economic Forum. I am also an environmentalist.

So, life has been busy. Then I finally found time to make a film and made What’s Love Got To Do With It? But let me tell you something - it is much more than a rom com. I was so fascinated by the fact that the lead character is looking for a partner but she is addicted to Tinder and tries to calm her anxiety by just being on the app. The fact that she is trying to look for love and intimacy became a fundamental reason for me to do the film. At the end of the day, aren’t we all are looking for intimacy in our lives?

Notions of love, marriage and relationships have undergone a major change among young South Asians. What is your take on modern-day relationships in the age of dating apps?

Love doesn’t change. It can never change. The way you find love and intimacy has changed perhaps. Every generation has its own way of finding love. All these years we kept hearing that marriage is the amalgamation of two families. But now, two individuals live together and keep discovering each other as time passes. They carry each other’s burden and share their joys but still maintain individual identities and lives.

I don’t think its any more the question of love, the question is how to stay with each other as long as you can. You can never claim to be in love by just saying ‘I love you’. Love is a mystery. It’s a question of exploring that sense of mystery together. When mystery goes away from love, it becomes mundane.

You were back on set with Shabana Azmi forty years after Masoom. How did that turn out? Nostalgic?

With Shabana, we started off where we left after Masoom. It never felt that we were out of touch. Sometimes when you are directing, you have to explicitly tell an artist if they are not following the directors vision or if you need a certain tweaking in their delivery. But Shabana reads the face and the expressions really well.

All it takes is just one gesture and one look! And then, she just picks it up and throws it out of the park. Since Masoom till today, I can sense that her instinct hasn’t changed at all.

How was your experience of working with Pakistani actress Sajal Aly?

Sajal’s name was highly recommended, and I was happy to see her audition. She is beautiful but how beautifully she portrays her character with emotions and strength is commendable.

My brief to her was that you have to portray shyness, but you shouldn’t come across as weak. She picked that up and what she has done with her role is so powerful. The strength that she has shown through her character is very impressive.

So is there a happily-ever-after ending to this film?

There is no reality in ‘happy ever after’, I believe. It’s the biggest lie. And if you are in the same state all your life, its monotony and it’s going to kill you in the end. There is no happy or sad ending in this film. There is no chase to the airport and plane stopping and hugging happening there.

The idea of happiness is a daily thing. At the end, there are still loose ends that need to be to be tied up. Life has to be a constant mystery for it to be exciting and the characters do have an exciting end. That much I can tell you!

Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai-based entertainment writer. His Instagram handle is @sadiqidas