Producer Siddhartha Roy Kapur hasn’t really had a mentor in the Film industry, while he came as an outsider carving his own path to the top, with sheer grit and determination. Siddharth talks about his journey, inspirations, and the success mantra behind producing films that are not only box office hits but even qualified to reach Oscar Nominations in conversation with Dr.Priyaankaa Mathur at IIFTC 2022.
Siddhartha Roy Kapur Founder & MD, of Roy Kapur Films, has come a long way, while he throws light on his inspirational journey into the world of cinema. Talking about one person who influenced him in the industry while he was growing up, pat came his reply, “It was none other than Big B, Amitabh Bacchan, while I grew up in the 70s, watching him striding large on the big screen way back in the 70s. He was the person who made me fall in love with the movies inspiring me to get into the world of cinema.“
Incidentally, Siddharth is a self-taught genius who hasn’t studied Production formally and has learnt the art hands-on job, while he thinks acting, directing, and producing all go hand in hand.
Reminiscing his initial stint with the production he tells, ” Eventually I joined Sydenham college in Mumbai and started acting. Over a while, I also started directing and even producing plays in my college, as I was the head of the dramatic society. So I was involved in putting a slate of productions every year, which involved raising sponsorships to figure out which genres of play we wanted to deal with. Eventually, I realized that I was enjoying all that tremendously, which I think was my first foray into the world of production.”
So how does he go about the selection of the right script and judge the audience response or decide if it’s good for a film, a web series,or a sequel? He explains, “When I read or hear a narration of a script I don’t wear the producer’s hat from that very moment. I go with my gut, and that’s the first feeling as to what I feel as an audience, if I would like this script or not. Once the answer is affirmative then only I go into other details like cast, budget, and the feasibility of the project.”
Siddhartha Roy Kapur gave an honest reply when asked, if was there any gut feeling or even a wage idea about the ‘Last film Show’, that it can be nominated for the Oscars, he said,” Well you would always hope that it would be India’s selection, but I was in fact in love with the script in the very first go.”
Talking about the selection of the cast for the film ‘Last Film Show’, which has a non-commercial cast with unknown faces, He said, “This Film is all about coming out of obscurity and dreaming big and it wouldn’t have worked with the known faces, so choosing a none commercial cast was the need of the script. Nalin the casting director and his team needs to be credited for finding the actors who just befittingly justify the characters.”
Talking about why films are not creating a mark at the box office in the last few years, he says, “Well there can be many reasons sometimes it’s not a very good script to start with, sometimes it’s the execution which may hamper a film’s success. Moreover, the success ratio of the films has always been low, as compared to the number of films that are produced. With the pandemic the habits and viewership patterns have changed in the last two years, with the digital platforms coming in. Many movies were slated to be released on the digital platforms which acted as a boon for the industry, otherwise those films were languishing waiting for cinemas to re-open. I think we are going through a flux right now, and over the period we will come out with great content as the scenario is again opening up.”
Talking about film tourism and its scope for filmmakers and initiatives taken by India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) 2022, Siddharth said,“ I think the Indian states are doing quite well in terms of providing all the logistics that the producers require to make the great content. While the UK and Abu Dhabi have also made great strides in luring Indian filmmakers. IIFTC isgoing a great job in bringing both the tourism and film fraternity together.”
IIFTC 2022 convention saw the participation of tourism and film organizations from India and over 20 countries coming to showcase their destinations to Indian Filmmakers and vice versa. The event saw participation from countries including Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi, Krakow, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Norway, Oman, Panama, Poland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Yas Island along with Indian states Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh amongst many others.
