A storyteller for all seasons
THE WEEK India|October 29, 2023
Four and a half decades in, Vidhu Vinod Chopra continues to revel in the joy of the craft
NAMRATA ZAKARIA
A storyteller for all seasons

Select cinemas across India have just finished week-long screenings of films by celebrated auteur Vidhu Vinod Chopra, whose production company Vinod Chopra Films is celebrating 45 years. Among the films shown were the iconic Parinda—the Anil Kapoor-Jackie Shroff-Nana Patekar starrer is one of the finest gangster films of Hindi cinema—and 3 Idiots, a mega blockbuster starring Aamir Khan and directed by Rajkumar Hirani. Some of his older films, cinematic jewels like Sazaye Maut and the cult murder mystery Khamosh, were also screened.

Chopra, 71, is ready with his newest offering—12th Fail, starring the talented Vikrant Massey and newcomer Palak Lalwani. It releases on October 27 and promises to be a heartwarming, feel-good film about the people who attempt the UPSC examinations—India’s arduous civil services examinations that often take a decade to clear. In typical Chopra style, the simple storytelling unpacks socially relevant themes. “I showed the film to Naseer (thespian Naseeruddin Shah), and he said I can finally call myself a director,” Chopra jokes. Chopra’s first documentary, An Encounter with Faces, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1979.

We are sitting in his Santacruz office, a ground-floor space with a waterfall and a small landscaped garden for an oasis, and a table lined with cushions covered with Kashmir’s crewel embroidery. Chopra, a Kashmiri Pandit, last made Shikara in 2020, a lament for his lost land and his mother’s abandoned home. He had not directed a film for 13 years before it, but had produced several superhits like 3 Idiots, PK and Sanju.

この記事は THE WEEK India の October 29, 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は THE WEEK India の October 29, 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

THE WEEK INDIAのその他の記事すべて表示
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
THE WEEK India

Trump and the crisis of liberalism

Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.

time-read
2 分  |
December 08, 2024
Men eye the woman's purse
THE WEEK India

Men eye the woman's purse

A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.

time-read
2 分  |
December 08, 2024
When trees hold hands
THE WEEK India

When trees hold hands

A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges

time-read
3 分  |
December 08, 2024
Ms Gee & Gen Z
THE WEEK India

Ms Gee & Gen Z

The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing

time-read
5 分  |
December 08, 2024
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
THE WEEK India

Vikram Seth-a suitable man

Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.

time-read
2 分  |
December 08, 2024
Superman bites the dust
THE WEEK India

Superman bites the dust

When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.

time-read
3 分  |
December 08, 2024
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
THE WEEK India

OLD MAN AND THE SEA

Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port

time-read
4 分  |
December 08, 2024
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE WEEK India

Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets

THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.

time-read
3 分  |
December 08, 2024
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
THE WEEK India

Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay

AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.

time-read
2 分  |
December 08, 2024
SCORCHED PERTH
THE WEEK India

SCORCHED PERTH

The first match of this Border-Gavaskar Trophy will go down in history as 'Bumrah's Test'

time-read
3 分  |
December 08, 2024