‘The problem is you’ve made an ‘Article’ film’ He said accusingly. Then other young black marketeers joined in. Almost threateningly. I soon worked out by ‘Article’ he meant ‘Artistic’ .. but by no means it was a complement .. for they had bought up tickets in anticipation of full house, so they could sell at a profit … except that .. Nobody came .. I walked into the theatre .. and there were only two people in there , and one was me! The vast emptiness hit me like an avalanche . This was the end of my career as a film maker .. which hadn’t actually started .. .. for Masoom was my first film. Unfortunately an ‘Article’ film.. as the black marketeers labelled it .. .. that was the Friday of the release. All theatres went empty. As they were on Saturday, Sunday , Monday Tuesday.. Oh well, I thought .. time to look for something else to do .. I had risen from the ashes before.. I would do it again. On Wednesday the distributor of the film called me and said they had no choice but to pull the film from the theatres .. which they did from the ones where they could find another film to replace Masoom.. On Thursday I got a call from them saying that people had started to come in. On Friday the houses were full. On Saturday tickets were being sold in black by those that called Masoom an ‘Article’ film. And the scramble to find more theatres began .. .. and Masoom was declared a hit . .. what happened on Thursday ?? I don’t know .. and have always wondered . What if they didn’t come on Thursday ? The Distributors would have given up the other theatre too .. and Masoom would not have been a film anyone saw .. Now , all those years later .. as I prepare to take ‘Masoom, the next generation’ into production, the word ‘Article Film’ still haunts me .. .. and … what happened on Thursday ? Did my ( or the film’s) destiny just change overnight ? #Masoom #Masoomthenextgenaration #Failure #sucesss #Destiny @kaverikapur

If you’re looking for me i am there, in the rising sun of the dawn, look for me in the ray of light that enters your room, and in there you will find me in a speck of dust, floating amongst billion others, but look further into that speck of dust for within it exists the same universe that you see around yourself, and within that whole universe you will find yourself looking for me in yet another speck of dust within which I may exist in yet another universe within another speck of dust within which, you will find yourself looking for me.. …and connecting all these universes is my love for you #love #quantumphysics #spirituality #dusk #speck #dust #universe #multiverse #eternity #spirituality #you #me #lookingforme #dust #light #rayoflight @kaverikapur

At the Nation Academy of Administration, in Mussoorie. In the Himalayas. Better known as the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy. It’s where some of the most brilliant minds, most able people in India come from. The ones that actually hold the world’s largest democracy together. Am delivering a lecture ( How an arrogant term is that?) .. so let’s say ‘speaking with’ all of them together in 10 minutes. And I still don’t know what I’m going to speak about. That pretty usual with me. I put myself in panic mode, knowing then the truth will come out .. I do that in my Ted Talks too.. I know they’ll expect me to talk about film.. but why should I be limited to what I am known for ? Why should I also not use this time to learn, gain knowledge instead of being pompous about the knowledge people have to come to believe I have? Some random thoughts .. If Culture is a collective .. where does an individual stand in it ? Is culture just another form of tribalism? In a time of such rapid change ( like AI) can a cuture that refuses to adapt survive ? Does the the adaptation come from the individual or does it have to be a mass movement ? Are world wide hit films/ series .. like (say) Star Wars a cultural phenomenum ? Do these rely on fundamental mythologies ? What are these fundamental mythologies ? How are they formed ? Where does the individual stand in all this .. for ultimately it’s all about perception. Perception.. hmm Isn’t perception individual .. or does tribalism force a mass perception upon us ? Is that what social media is doing to us ? Again.. where does an individual stand in all this .. are we losing our individuality ? And if so .. Who am I ? For without that fundamental understanding of my myself .. how can I be an artist ?? And where does the idea of God .. come into all this ? Ok .. ok .. I am overthinking this .. I need to go into the lecture without knowing .. I need the chaos of not knowing.. so I can come out with learning or unlearning something myself .. Here we go ! #Culture #Tribalism #Collective #Lecture #AI #Change #IndianAdministrativeService #Mussoorie #Uttarakhand #Himalayas #India #Democracy #film #Speaker

Bandit Queen shook Bollywood, sparked outrage, and changed cinema. #ShekharKapur’s bold biopic still stuns. #KhalidMohamed #BanditQueen #PhoolanDevi

Each leap was a leap of faith .. a leap of adventure .. a leap of suspension between life and death .. each leap of hope .. of intuition.. We used to live in Delhi when I was that age, and during summers went to either Simla or Nainital. There were these rivers cascading down, and one of my favourite pastimes was to run down these rivers ..balancing between the boulders with each jump .. The greatest thrill was having to select which boulder to jump to next , and in that intuitive moment… also guess how slippery it might be .. But hey ! As I would pick up momentum there was hardly a second .. if that .. before you had to take the next leap .. for stopping to think was not a possibility .. your own momentum was too great .. …. and soon you had to start guessing the next 3 boulders to jump to .. before each leap .. .. guessing ?? No .. looking back I was getting into the zone .. where every leap .. every breath .. every moment became completely intuitive .. a transcendence from linearity .. My poor Mom.. her heart was in her mouth when she found out I was doing this .. So what’s this got to do with AI ? Of course AI could have calculated the distance / momentum in infinite seconds .. and tell me where to jump next .. and what step to take.. especially (say ) if I had Elon Musk’s chip implanted in my head !! It would lead me down the river .. without the potential risks .. without the possibility of injury and potentially killing myself .. take any uncertainty out of my actions .. .. but here’s the question .. then why would I do it ? Why would I do it if all uncertainty was sucked out .. .. for facing uncertainty is what makes me human .. suspended between life and death .. not knowing .. challenging death itself .. that’s what makes me human .. So while the world looks to AI to make life more certain .. we forget .. that we live, we love, we strive .. we innovate .. we are human… because everything is uncertain .. #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Love #Intuition #Human #ExtremeSports #Uncertaintity #Certainty #Hope #BeingHuman #Thrill #Transcendance #Trancend #Danger #ElonMusk #Innovation @kaverikapur

Consciousness .. …a word so widely used and yet so misunderstood. Almost as misunderstood as the world ‘Love’ For how can a drop in the vast eternal Ocean isolate itself from the Ocean and then try understand the Ocean outside its own self.? What is this ‘itself’ the drop imagines ? As Rumi said so famously .. ‘You are not a drop in the Ocean .. but a whole Ocean in the Drop’ The very issue with Conciousness is our attempt to define it. But surely if consiousness is the vast eternity in which we exist , then it has to be undefinable .. immeasurable.. infinite .. But our mind, our ego is addicted to conclusions … to definitions. Our mind needs to define everything. Consousness cannot be a definition, nor a conclusion.. For Consciousness is not what is, or what might be .. Consciousness is ‘what is not’ .. for while we may be able to define ‘what is’ .. we have no way to measure that which is not .. Nothingness is not measurable .. there is a reason Shiva is described as the Lord of Darkness .. of Nothingness .. and the Buddha spoke of Enlightenment as a vast Emptiness .. that’s how He described Consciousness.. #consciousness #Buddha #Shiva #Nothingness #Measure #spiritualgrowth #spirituality #philosophy #dalailamawisdom #love #happy90thbirthdaydalailama #dalailama

#universe #spirituality #philosophy #partner @kaverikapur

In a recent interview with Midday.. Shabana Azmi said that the sequel .. ‘Masoom- the next generation’ is about identity .. and ‘Shekhar has been obsessed with the idea of Identity as long as I’ve known him’ .. Wow .. that’s almost 40 years.. and she’s right ! Shabana’s favourite name for me Ibn Batuta But because I have been a nomad all my life, I’ve become a turtle. I carry my home like a shell on my back. And wherever I might be .. I crawl into my shell and make it home.. So yes, Masoom-the next generation is about Home and Identity .. Is home a physical space .. enclosed in four walls.. ? or is it an emotion .. and memories .. that can never be enclosed in four walls ? So that turtle like shell I carry on my back always .. is an accumalation of memories , of emotions , of being loved .. and of being in love .. Like an ever shifting ocean of all that I am, all that I was, all that I might be .. and all ideas as vast as the ocean.. thoughts and emotions as vast as eternity .. .. and all of that .. all of that moving .. all of that churning ( Manthan) .. all that flows .. .. the sum total of all that is my identity .. for none of us have a single defined identity .. for to define yourself is to confine yourself to.. And ( phew) it’s taken me 10 years to create a family story .. as simple as the original film.. yet as full and overflowing with emotion and multiple stories hidden in the subtext .. that gave rise to a film that 40 years later is still moving audiences to tears .. .. and yesterday as I gave the first narration of ‘Masoom- the next generation’ to film makers I trust .. everyone had tears in their eyes .. including, embarrassingly, .. me ! Ok … over to the amazing actors now … and to me once again to the director’s shoes .. .. and so I need your blessings .. to carve out emotion through simplicity .. through simple family emotions through a vast ocean of of ideas like .. Identity .. like home ! #home #identity #emotion #film #script #director @kaverikapur #actors #acting #masoom #Masoom-thenextgeneration #tears #love #shell #turtle #nomad #Ibn-batuta #ibnbatuta #nomad #ShabanaAzmi #NaseeruddinShah #ManojBajpayee #nithyamenon

That’s what I love about @kaverikapur poems. The fluctuate so easily between the raw, the loving , the heartfelt honesty and the brutal .. amazing

#life #wisdom #wisdomoftheday #wisdomquotes #shekhar #sense #spirituality #philosophy @kaverikapur

There were tears in Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice. One of his favourite musicians R D Burman had just passed away. .. ‘Shekhar ji.. you look at your film and I will look into your eyes. And I will sing. We were doing the background score for Bandit Queen. And it’s the strangest request I’ve ever had. The scene was the Behmai Massacre and it aftermath. With row upon row of funeral pyres with the sound of women on the bank lamenting in high rustic voices .. We turned the mikes on and I found Khan sahib looking.. no, staring into my eyes.. as if he could find my soul, and look deep into it. He knew how close I was to R d Burman too. He had created the music for my first film, Masoom. His eyes and his voice arrested me. I was transported to a far deeper realm. For Khan Sahib was taking me closer to God and into the space where life and death merged into one .. If you ever see Bandit queen again .. look for the scene of the aftermath of the Behmai Massacre .. that music will transport you too .. That’s what it was like working with Nusrat Ali Khan .. and that’s why I make films. To find space between life and death .. For in that space exists creativity .. #creativity #lifeanddeath #life #death #nusratfatehalikhan #film #movies #banditqueen #music #score #filmscore #behmai #behamaimassacre #banditqueen #phoolandevi #rdburman #masoom

Intelligence of the Heart in the time of AI ? So this is not a counter argument to AI , but an argument that our fears of Human Intelligence being overcome by Artificial Intelligence does not take into account the Intelligence of the Heart .. Years ago, my Grandmother would feed me a spoonful of Curd ( Dahi) before I went to take my school exams ? I found that so eccentric, so bewildering, so embarrassing just in case anyone found out .. just that my friends would tease me ‘Have you taken your spoonful of Dahi, Shekhar, to pass your exams’ ? Years after my Grandmother passed, science discovered our ‘Second Brain’ .. the brain in our Gut. And the role of Microbiome’s in our psychology .. and Dahi is best known natural probiotic that feeds our Microbiome.. What about the intelligence of the Heart ? When your Heart beats faster when you fall in love , is it your brain sending your heart a message .., or is it your heart telling the brain you’ve fallen in love? Recent research has shown that the Heart sends more messages to the Brain through the Vagus Nerve, than the other way round … and no wonder we say ‘ I love you with all my heart ‘ , rather than ‘I love you with all my mind’ The heart is not just a mechanical pump. There are 40,000 neurons in the heart. Constantly sending messages to the brain. A few milliseconds before the brain responds. Jo I believe Intuition is born in the heart. And of course emotions like compassion and empathy .. and hope, and love .. So when we talk about Artificial engulfing our own, we forget the Intelligence of the Heart .. we forget about emotions like love , hope, fear, compassion etc that arise from the heart .. that AI may write about .. scour every text book , any video .. analyse all the trillions of data available .. but will never be able to.. .. feel love , be compassionate .. be hopeful .. or even fear .. For all those emotions arise from the Intelligence of the Heart .. #AI #Heart #intelligence #Vagusnerve #Love #compasion #hope #fear #brain #mind #Emirates #Technology #Conference #Human #humanity #ArtificialIntelligence @kaverikapur