Art and the man Shekhar Kapur’s artistic interpretation of his recent Argentinean short film will join Salvador Dali and Picasso’s creations in a museum in Europe
By Subhash K Jha Posted On Thursday, November 06, 2008 Shekhar Kapur and A.R.Rahman Shekhar Kapur, who has just completed 3 Graces,a 25-minute film for a leading international company, will make his artistic interpretation of the film, to be placed along with Salvador Dali and Picasso’s creations in a museum in Europe. Interestingly, a leading multinational company enters the filmmaking business with this film. Shekhar informed, “I was in New York when I got a call from them. I immediately flew down to Austria. They told me they had seen my films and they wanted me to make a film for them. They also have a museum where some of the greatest modern artistes including Salvador Dali and Picasso have done sculptures. So after I have completed the film they want me to get together with an architect and install a permanent sculpture inspired by the film.” Ask Shekhar why he made a short film instead of a full-fledged one and he is quick to retort that short films are the future of world cinema. He explained, “A lot of big-name directors are today making short films. It takes so little time. I shot a short film for Mira Nair in New York in just two days. And I shot the film in Buenos Aires in just five days. We shot like mad people for 14-15 hours a day. At the end of it my actors said they had never experienced anything like it. We shot on the edge and that’s the only way to shoot.”This short film has a lot of high points apart from its representational sculpture. Its music opera is composed by A R Rahman and is also sung by an Indian. “Rahman has composed a classic opera song for the film that he has recorded in India in an Indian female singer’s voice from his music institute in Chennai. When I played the song in Argentina, they said, ‘My God, what a great opera and an operatic voice!’ Their jaws fell open when I said both were Indian,” Shekhar recollected with a chuckle. Shekhar is not just ecstatic about doing this international project but is also on cloud nine for having worked with three beautiful women in the film. Making no attempt to disguise the hint of pride in his voice, Shekhar commented, “My colleagues in Mumbai are so jealous. I have just returned from Buenos Aires after shooting with three of the most beautiful women in the world and I am feeling on top of the world. Julia Stiles is the leading lady from all the Bourne Identity films. Haley Benett was the pop singer with Hugh Grant in Music & Lyrics. Lily Cole is one of the three top models of the world, in the same league as Kate Moss. It’s the story of three sisters. One of them is a tango dancer played by Lily.” http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=30&contentid=2008110620081106035726702d8944a50§xslt=section
