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Will the real Shekhar Kapur please start tweeting

Lamat R Hasan | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:49 IST
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Killed in 140 characters - Shekhar Kapur is killing his own legacy with his daft twitter presence
The making & unmaking of Shekhar Kapur, courtesy Twitter

Something is up with Shekhar Kapur. Yes - the talented film director with a brilliant filmography. Remember "Masoom"? Remember "Mr India"? The first we never tire of watching thanks to its timeless appeal. The second we keep going back to - secretly wishing for a sequel.

In his journey from being a chartered accountant to a model to an actor and eventually a director, Kapur has picked up every award that counts - from the Padma Shri to the National Film Awards. He even won a BAFTA award for "Elizabeth".

He has navigated difficult territory with his controversial film "Bandit Queen", a biographical film on the life of Phoolan Devi. And the world looks forward to seeing "Paani" - the film he announced he was making at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in 2010.

So why then does the persona of one of intelligent India's favourite directors not reflect on his Twitter timeline? Why is the greatness of Shekhar Kapur getting lost on Twitter? Is Kapur himself responsible for his downfall? Is he damaging his reputation by over-tweeting? By trying to pass off the mundane as surreal?

Perhaps.

Here's looking at his tweets. In his attempts to be inspiring, deep and wise through, as he calls them, "lessons in life", he ends up sounding like the bottom strata of motivational internet memes:

And then, to maintain his image as a connoisseur of the arts, there's his 'poetry':

What is even more annoying is that Kapur never fails to retweet people who endorse his "lessons of life" or his poetry as if it vindicates his vacuousness.

Where is the nuance, drama, art or any of the things we associate with Kapur? Why is Kapur hellbent on unmaking himself? Is he catering to the lowest common denominator of internet intelligence? And if so, why? Kapur has never really pandered with his movies, choosing to make people think instead. Has he, like so many bands and artists before him, opted to dumb things down to widen his audience? From being one of the most pioneering filmmakers in the country, is he now trying to cast himself in the mould of the Chetan Bhagats of the world?

We can only hope not.

Dear Mr Kapur, please focus on the movies and treat us to the real you. Be the man who made women swoon. Be the man who taught India that relationships cannot be simplistic and one-dimensional. Be the man that you are, and not the silly twitter caricature you've become.

First published: 10 June 2016, 9:25 IST
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Lamat R Hasan @LamatAyub

Bats for the four-legged, can't stand most on two. Forced to venture into the world of homo sapiens to manage uninterrupted companionship of 16 cats, 2 dogs and counting... Can read books and paint pots and pay bills by being journalist.

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