The Agony Of Being Rajat Kapoor

Since July last year, film-maker Rajat Kapoor has been exhorting his two-lakh-plus followers on Twitter to crowdfund his next project: RK/R Kay. The budget of the film is ₹2.5 crore, and he needs 50,000 people to give ₹500 each. Which begs the question: why is one of India’s finest independent film-makers perennially short of cash?

- Ekta Mohta

Someone needs to gift Rajat Kapoor a book on how to win friends and influential people. He’s already a gifted screenwriter, film-maker, theatre director and actor. But, given recent events, no one can deny he needs help as a salesman.

Kapoor has written and directed six films: Private Detective, Raghu Romeo, Mixed Doubles, Mithya, Fatso! and Ankhon Dekhi. His signature is to make entertaining films in an artistic way, which is why film critics are usually pleasant towards him, such as Shubhra Gupta, who wrote in The Indian Express, “He is one of the few Indian directors who understand whimsy.” But, in a classic case of self-sabotage, Kapoor has a knack for attracting creatives and repelling suits. He made Raghu Romeo only after borrowing money from friends. Of the experience, he recalls, “What I did stupidly, I said, ‘Even if the film makes a loss, I will return your money. If the film makes a profit, you’re a partner in the profits.’ Which was a stupid thing because the film didn’t make money, I lost a lot of money, and for the next five years, I was [repaying].” In 2011, he was ready to quit films when he couldn’t find a producer for Ankhon Dekhi. In a remarkable turn of events, entrepreneur Manish Mundra slid into his DMs and offered to wire the money. And, most recently, for another of his scripts, Kadakh, the producer “ran away before the shooting started. But, somehow we managed to finish the shoot anyway.”