'I've been trying to make Paani for 15 years, but it still hasn't been made'

Shekhar Kapur says he thinks of many stories every day, but which film gets made and which doesn’t is the destiny of that film. He says, "I think of a story every day. Kaun si film ban jati hai aur kaun si nahi banti, I still don’t know. I think a film chooses when it wants to be made. I’ve been trying to make Paani for 15 years, but it still hasn’t been made. Woh kyun nahi ban rahi? Somewhere, I actually feel that the film that is ready to get made, gets made."

So, when a film he has been trying to make for over a decade doesn’t get made, does it bother him as a filmmaker? He says, “Of course, it does. It’s like when you love a person and they don’t love you back. It’s the same with Paani, it’s a heartbreak. And then you either move on - make another film or accept heartbreak.”

Talking about his love for storytelling, Shekhar Kapur joked, “Kabhi Shabana (Azmi) se puchhna, jab shuru-shuru mein main aaya tha aur main kisi party mein jata tha, toh sab kehte thay, 'Bhaago, bhaago, Shekhar aa gaya, kahani sunayega ab.' That’s how I became a filmmaker. I’m addicted to telling stories.”