Regional filmmakers tend to take more chances: Rajat Kapoor

A few clowns, dressed mostly in black with hints of white and red took to stage at a city auditorium on Sunday to bring to life two of Shakespeare’s timeless classics, King Lear and Macbeth, in a modern context. Though it may sound a little unusual to place the tragedies in a comic setting, Rajat Kapoor, the creative mind behind the productions, has made it possible. The plays were staged as a part of Shakespeare Theatre Festival, hosted by Kahaaniyan. The filmmaker-actor, known for films like Bheja Fry, RK/RKay and Iti Mrinalini, made some time from his busy schedule to speak to CT about his perception of the bard, why classics need to be reinvented, regional films taking the front stage and more.
Regional films are now in the spotlight. What are your thoughts on this?
Regional films don’t have the pressure of catering to a pan Indian audience, on them. The audience, especially down South is slightly more educated, and they allow more experiments to be done, more chances to be taken.
You have donned multiple hats, that of a director, actor and a thespian. Which role do you enjoy the most personally?
Even though other people may know me as an actor, filmmaking is my first passion. I enjoy acting, the process of creating and staging a play, spending time with my wonderful team, but filmmaking is my primary identity as that’s who I started off as a young man.
It’s been quite some time since you started staging adaptations of Shakespeare. What about the bard and his works that intrigue you?
The first time I did a Shakespeare adaptation was Hamlet: The Clown Prince. The idea was to see if one can stage a classic with clowns. We have staged four Shakespearean adaptations so far, and with each play I’ve come to discover the greatness of the bard. In his own way, he takes each story and delves deep down into certain human emotions”
Using comedy and clowns to stage tragedies
The Anuranan actor says both the plays, Macbeth: What’s Done is Done and Nothing Like Lear are not directly talking about the current socio-political scenario, but still reflecting on it in some way. He expresses, “Not that Hamlet is not dark, or King Lear is not dark, but I specifically wanted to work with scary clowns in Macbeth. Black, white and a bit of red are a part of the plays, and dark clowns are there primarily because dark comedy is the medium of expression in each of the productions.”
On the elements that are essential to keep classics relevant…
Rajat thinks artists don’t consciously create a masterpiece, in order to keep it relevant years down the line. He says, “An artist creates for the people around them, of their time. It is only because they’ve created something so special, that it transcends time and manages to live for centuries, be it Greek tragedies, Kalidas, Shakespeare or Dostoevsky.”
Quote blurb:
"I’m ready for another role in a Bengali film, but nobody is calling me. I recently acted in an Assamese film Anur, and I enjoyed it. I am looking forward to working in another Bengali film soon"
"I spent my life studying and trying to make films. I think when you make a film; you put everything into it, since each film takes away two years of your life. You invest a lot more in it"

"Be it dark comedy or any other form of it, anything can be misused. But what matters is the intent, whether you want to raise questions with it or instigate someone"