Shekhar Kapur is an Indian Film Director, Actor and Film Producer, knows for his works in Hindi Cinema and International Cinema.

Kapur started his career as an actor in the movie Jaan Hazir Hai (1975) and later in Toote Khilone, in Bollywood. He appeared in several Hindi Television Dramas.

He turned director with the family drama “Masoom” (1983). It is an adaptation of the 1980 nobel “Man, Woman and Child” by Erich Segal. The plot followed the story of an illegitimate boy who struggles to find acceptance from his stepmother. This film won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie. In 1987 he directed science – fiction film “Mr. India”. That film villain Amrish Puri’s most famous dialogue “Mogambo Khush Hua” is still remembered.

In gained international recognition with the 1994 Bollywood film “Bandit Queen”, based on Mala Sen’s biography of infamous Indian Bandit and politician Phoolan Devi, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature in Hindi, Filmfare Critics Awards for best movie and best direction of that year. It was premiered in the Directors Fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

In International Cinema, the historical biopics on Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth : The Golden Age (2007), have earned him acclaim, with the former winning the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film and both winning an Academy Award.

Kapur has also been the recipient of a National Board of Review Award, as well as an Indian National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. In 2010, he served as one of the Jury Members (International Competition) at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.

In 2020, Kapur became the current President of the Film and Television Institute of India.

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