Siddharth Roy Kapur humbled by Last Films Show’s multiple National Award wins, says can’t engineer award-worthy films: ‘It’s an exercise in futility’

The Gujarati-language coming-of-age drama film, helmed by Pan Nalin, premiered at the 20th Tribeca Film Festival and was then India’s contender for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards, where it was shortlisted– only the fourth Indian film to ever make it to this stage.

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Siddharth Roy Kapur talks about what the win of Last Film Show means for the maker, the validation it has to offer and answers if one can ever set to out to look for “award worthy” films to back.

Edited Excerpts.

 

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What is the significance of this win for you?

For every artiste, a prestigious honour like National Awards is so heartening and encouraging. Because your own country giving an honour to you, patting your back and letting you know that you are doing well and must continue to do so. The award holds tremendous value for all performing artistes in the country. The win is humbling, and I feel very proud.

How do you look at the film’s journey? Its rise is spectacular– from being shortlisted at the Academy Awards to now National Awards.

This is what dreams are made of. This was a story inspired by the life of Pan Nalin, who grew up in a small village in Gujarat, was obsessed with the movies, had only one rundown theatre to watch movies at, facing all the flak that he did for from his parents and people around him and then to go around the world making movies… It all started with his journey as a child and the fact that he felt inspired to make a film about it. When you consider where it originated and where it has reached today, that’s what we work hard to do. To be able to make movies that outlive us.

It is impossible to predict a film’s journey, but did you have a hunch of where it would head?

It’s really hard to predict such things and anyone who says they can is kidding us and themselves. But one did have an inkling watching the film that this was something special. That it was a simple story told with heart, authenticity. It was funny and sad, had everything that moves us in films. We knew it would be loved and appreciated, but there’s no way of predicting this sort of journey.

But when a movie like Last Film Show does go on to have a journey like that, does it happen that as a production house, one consciously starts looking for their next project which would have a similar trajectory? Would you now look for the next The Last Film Show?

Subconsciously we are always looking for material that we will be proud to put out. That’s always a filter that one uses. Like it is so difficult to try to make a hit film–it just happens–in the same way going out with a filter of looking for something award worthy or award friendly is an exercise in futility. You might as well look for material that excites you, engages you, inspires you and invariably that material will be of the type that will do great things at the box office and at the awards. That’s the best filter.

You can’t engineer an award-winning film…

I’ve found that whenever one has tried to do things which are deconstructed in a way which is trying to achieve some purpose, which is unrelated to the material itself, you end up failing.

It has been a great year for you, Last Film Show’s global journey and the second season of Rocket Boys–based on the lives of Homi J Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Interestingly, India’s Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 scripted history by successfully landing on the lunar surface…

For the entire team of Rocket Boys, watching the Vikram Lander make its way out of the space craft and go on to the moon was so special because it’s so aptly named– It all started with Vikram Sarabhai. The fact that he was acknowledged in that way is wonderful because it was his resilience, his spirit, his will that really helped India reach where we have in terms of our space program and has made such a huge difference in how we are perceived as a superpower around the world today. So it was a huge honour to tell the stories of these two men who are heroes of modern India.