Shekhar Kapur Biography

Date of Birth: 1945

Shekhar Kapur first came to the notice of American audiences in 1998, when he directed the Academy Award®-winning hit Elizabeth, based on the life of Elizabeth I of England. His work on the film earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director, in the Motion Picture category. The nephew of award-winning veteran Indian director Vijay Anand, Kapur is a veteran of "Bollywood," the Indian film industry.

Kapur also has the distinction of being one of the first directors from India to burst onto the global film scene. International attention first came in 1994 for his third film, the controversial and critically acclaimed Phoolan Devi (Bandit Queen), based on the true story of a low-caste woman who became a member of India’s parliament. In the screen adaptation, she becomes a bandit to avenge a murder. The film earned Kapur a Fanfare Award for Best Director.

Originally trained as a Chartered Accountant (CPA) in Great Britain in the early 1970s, Kapur grew disillusioned about his career choice and instead returned to Bombay to become an actor. He also worked as an assistant director under the Indian film industry’s apprenticeship system. As an actor he appeared in several films and even made an uncredited cameo appearance in his own film, Elizabeth, as the man who stabs the Bishop.

In 2002, he took on the epic film The Four Feathers, starring Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson.

Born in Lahore, British India, Kapur now makes his home in Pakistan.

Filmography:

Paani (2004)
The Four Feathers (2002)
Elizabeth (1998)
Dushman (1995)
Bandit Queen (1994)
Mr. India (1987)
Masoom (1983)