Time to test legally: Shekhar Kapur on 'Mr. India' remake
Earlier this week, Bollywood director Ali Abbas Zafar announced that he would soon helm a movie trilogy inspired by the iconic 1987 movie Mr. India, which was directed by Shekhar Kapur. However, the surprise announcement has been mired in controversy. Kapur has since criticized the makers of the planned project for not consulting with him and not getting due creative rights. Here's more.
In a series of tweets posted on Saturday, Kapur wrote, "We sit with writers from day one, but are not the writer. Help actors hone performances but are not actors...Directors lead and inspire every aspect of a film and have no creative rights?" In reply to a tweet by fellow director Kunal Kohli, Kapur added, "Yes. It's time to test this legally...let's do it."
We sit with writers from day one, but are not the writer. Help actors hone performances but are not actors. Develop and create visual language of film. Slave hours over editing consoles. Directors lead and inspire every aspect of a film and have no creative rights? #MrIndia
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 22, 2020
Earlier, when the remake was announced, Kapur condemned it, saying that he wasn't informed about it. "No one has even asked me or mentioned to me about this film called Mr India 2. I can only guess that they using the title to get a big weekend. For they cannot use the characters/story without permission from the original creators of the film," he tweeted.
Kapur's sharp attack comes soon after actor Sonam Kapoor called out Zafar and the makers of the rebooted movie. "It's quite disrespectful and underhanded if it is true," she wrote, claiming that neither her father Anil Kapoor (who had starred in the original movie) nor Kapur were consulted before the announcement. However, in another tweet, Sonam wrote, "We are all still very confused."
FYI pic.twitter.com/YRmrny8VeW
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) February 22, 2020
For the unversed, Mr. India, a superhero movie, is one of the most iconic Hindi movies of all time. Penned by the screenwriting duo of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, the movie became a cult classic, thanks to the unforgettable characters such as Mr. India and the infamous villain Mogambo (played by late Amrish Puri), and superhit songs like Hawa Hawaii.
