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INDIAN FILM MAKER CONSIDERS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE A PART OF WORLD HISTORY THOUGH A VERY SHAMEFUL ONE
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The man who gave us the sensitive
"Masoom", the hilariously thrilling Mr. India the gripping Bandit
Queen and the grand period drama Elizabeth has not lost any of his
creative zeal. The latest topic to catch Shekhar Kapur`s fancy is
the Armenian genocide, and he knows it`s going to be challenging. As
Armenpress reports, Indian NewstrackIndia and ZeenewsIndia had wrote
the prefaces of articles on Indian film maker initiative to shot a
film on Armenian Genocide by similar way.
The film deals with the systematic extermination of minority Armenians
in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by the Ottoman Empire during and after
the Great War (1915-1923). The event, termed genocide by Armenians the
world over, caused the deaths of 1 to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians in
Anatolia. Kapur had recently tweeted that he was going to Yerevan,
Armenia`s capital, to collect material on the event. The idea, he
said, came to him from a script sent by the man who wrote "Motorcyle
Diaries". "It is a part of world history though a very shameful one,"
Kapur told reporters during a candid conversation here."The idea came
to me based on a script sent to me by the screenwriter of `Motorcycle
Diaries` (Puerto Rican Jose Rivera). I fell in love with the script.
It is a challenging project though. It will require lots of money,
lots of passion and organisation. But there are a lot of passionate
people behind this project. So it will hopefully see the light of day,"
he said. However, filming of the movie will not start before another
year, says Kapur, who is yet to begin work on his long-pending movie
on water wars, Paani. The Armenian genocide is a particularly touchy
topic in the political state that succeeded the Ottoman Sultanate in
1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk`s Republic of Turkey. So taboo is the
topic for both - the Turkish government and ordinary Turks, that a
Nobel laureate like Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted and found himself on
the hit list of a far-right Turkish group for openly stating that
Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenians. Does Kapur fear
inviting similar censure? "I invited the wrath of upper castes, the
government and the censor board with `Bandit Queen`. But I did not
back down. I believe in fighting for what I believe in," he said with
a wry smile."Moreover," he added, "there has been a shift in Turkish
society. Nobody from that period is alive today. The new generation
believes that their nation is great and has to move on.
They say, `Why can`t we accept what happened`?" Controversy is not
new to Kapur. He had drawn flak from British tabloids in 2002, when
he directed his own version of AEW Mason`s novel 'The Four Feathers',
starring the late Heath Ledger. The novel is centred on the Mahdist
War in Sudan, sparked by the death of Charles Gordon (Gordon Pasha).
Kapur was accused of being `anti-British` when the film released."I
was not anti-British. I was anti-colonisation. That is why I made the
film. I made my own version because the novel and the previous film
versions were heavily pro-colonial. It was colonial arrogance that led
the British to intervene in Sudan. It was this that I wanted to show,"
clarified Kapur. The 66-year-old is the only Indian to have made a
successful Hollywood film. "Elizabeth" (1998) won Cate Blanchett the
Bafta and the Golden Globe for best actress though she lost out on
the Oscar. The film, however, received an Oscar for best makeup. The
sequel "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007) was also well received.With
the two period dramas behind him, is there anything special about
history that attracts him? "A society that does not learn from its
past is condemned to repeat its mistakes. As a filmmaker, history for
me is like sci-fi. I can create an entire world of my own," said Kapur.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The man who gave us the sensitive
"Masoom", the hilariously thrilling Mr. India the gripping Bandit
Queen and the grand period drama Elizabeth has not lost any of his
creative zeal. The latest topic to catch Shekhar Kapur`s fancy is
the Armenian genocide, and he knows it`s going to be challenging. As
Armenpress reports, Indian NewstrackIndia and ZeenewsIndia had wrote
the prefaces of articles on Indian film maker initiative to shot a
film on Armenian Genocide by similar way.
The film deals with the systematic extermination of minority Armenians
in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by the Ottoman Empire during and after
the Great War (1915-1923). The event, termed genocide by Armenians the
world over, caused the deaths of 1 to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians in
Anatolia. Kapur had recently tweeted that he was going to Yerevan,
Armenia`s capital, to collect material on the event. The idea, he
said, came to him from a script sent by the man who wrote "Motorcyle
Diaries". "It is a part of world history though a very shameful one,"
Kapur told reporters during a candid conversation here."The idea came
to me based on a script sent to me by the screenwriter of `Motorcycle
Diaries` (Puerto Rican Jose Rivera). I fell in love with the script.
It is a challenging project though. It will require lots of money,
lots of passion and organisation. But there are a lot of passionate
people behind this project. So it will hopefully see the light of day,"
he said. However, filming of the movie will not start before another
year, says Kapur, who is yet to begin work on his long-pending movie
on water wars, Paani. The Armenian genocide is a particularly touchy
topic in the political state that succeeded the Ottoman Sultanate in
1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk`s Republic of Turkey. So taboo is the
topic for both - the Turkish government and ordinary Turks, that a
Nobel laureate like Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted and found himself on
the hit list of a far-right Turkish group for openly stating that
Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenians. Does Kapur fear
inviting similar censure? "I invited the wrath of upper castes, the
government and the censor board with `Bandit Queen`. But I did not
back down. I believe in fighting for what I believe in," he said with
a wry smile."Moreover," he added, "there has been a shift in Turkish
society. Nobody from that period is alive today. The new generation
believes that their nation is great and has to move on.
They say, `Why can`t we accept what happened`?" Controversy is not
new to Kapur. He had drawn flak from British tabloids in 2002, when
he directed his own version of AEW Mason`s novel 'The Four Feathers',
starring the late Heath Ledger. The novel is centred on the Mahdist
War in Sudan, sparked by the death of Charles Gordon (Gordon Pasha).
Kapur was accused of being `anti-British` when the film released."I
was not anti-British. I was anti-colonisation. That is why I made the
film. I made my own version because the novel and the previous film
versions were heavily pro-colonial. It was colonial arrogance that led
the British to intervene in Sudan. It was this that I wanted to show,"
clarified Kapur. The 66-year-old is the only Indian to have made a
successful Hollywood film. "Elizabeth" (1998) won Cate Blanchett the
Bafta and the Golden Globe for best actress though she lost out on
the Oscar. The film, however, received an Oscar for best makeup. The
sequel "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007) was also well received.With
the two period dramas behind him, is there anything special about
history that attracts him? "A society that does not learn from its
past is condemned to repeat its mistakes. As a filmmaker, history for
me is like sci-fi. I can create an entire world of my own," said Kapur.