THE BUSINESS OF CINEMA WITH SIDDHARTH ROY KAPUR

A kickass career of 15 years and a new innings with his OTT debut, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur’s goals hold no boundaries. He discusses the web boom, the return of the silver screen, and what keeps him going

- Jigar Shah

Siddharth Roy Kapur’s name has become synonymous with India’s motion picture business for over 15 years. Kickstarting his career with UTV, becoming the managing director and CEO of Disney India, and then going out on his own with Roy Kapur Films, he was spearheaded for success. Kapur, who has been behind some iconic films like Dev D, the ABCD franchise, Fashion, Dangal, is now putting all his might behind some very special and different stories. Kapur has entered the OTT game with two recent bets — Aranyak (Netflix) and Rocket Boys (Sony Liv). In fact, Rocket Boys was referenced by Cabinet Minister Piyush Goyal in one of his speeches. Sujoy Ghosh of Kahaani and Badla fame had tweeted, “Everyone I am meeting is asking me if I have seen Rocket Boys? At this rate, I think I'll be fined soon.” When we mention this to Kapur, he says, “I will fine Sujoy if he doesn’t watch it soon (laughs).”

Rocket Boys is based on the life of two scientists, Dr Homi J Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai. Discussing the terrific response that the show garnered, Kapur shares, “The reaction is quite overwhelming. Sometimes, you succeed, and sometimes things don’t work out. I have been lucky in my career to have experienced a few moments like these before. You rarely happen to create something that touches a nerve and snowballs into this sort of an emotional response. You can sense the characters, the period, the patriotism, the idea of young new India trying to find its feet. These nuanced personalities with frailties and failings have so much heroism and bravery.”