"How many of you are creative? How many of you have thought of being creative?" These were a few questions with which noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur started his masterclass on 'What is creativity? How do you describe the act of creation?' at IFFI 2014.
"I'm asking you these questions because 'I DON'T KNOW' are the three most powerful words for those who want to be creative. Every creative action starts with the same 'I don't know'. So I'm standing in front of you and saying the same. Every time you find something about creativity - it is wrong and it is right. Every way you describe creativity - it is great and awful. Every act of creation - is something new, if not new it isn't an act of creation," he said.
So the room -- which was packed with friendly host Shekhar Kapur, moderators Manoj Bajpayee, Satish Kaushik and Sudhir Mishra; and excited delegates eager to know about the need to come up with interesting ideas -- soon transformed into a focal point where the ideas were exchanged, thoughts discussed and the urge to be creative delved deeper into.
While the barrage of questions by Shekhar prompted equally interesting answers, filmmaker's friends Manoj and Sudhir's observations made the session an enlightening experience for the delegates. Excerpts from the session:
Sudhir Mishra: When I see your films, it always begins at a point, and the way it moves, it seems to gain enquiry, but the end looks very tentative. I feel it begins with an attempt to find an answer and leads to a question in the end. I feel you get into a different world in each of your films. Like in 'Masoom' you entered the world of middle class and upper middle class in Delhi. You can almost smell different dimensions in your films...
Shekhar: I did 'Elizabeth' and 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age'. For me, 'Elizabeth' was a far better world. I don't know which film made more money, probably the second one, but the first film was far more successful. While working on the film I remember Cate Blanchett telling me, 'Let us change the writer for the first one.' She asked me to take another writer, which we had to, because during the shoot of 'Elizabeth', we had to sit down and discuss what exactly those words meant to me. I said, that's what made your performance.
So gaps in the story are where the actors and directors and cinematographers come in to fill the voids work. These are the gaps that live forever. When I watch 'The Godfather' 25-30 years later after its release, I view it differently. These gaps are contradictions. Universe exists in contradictions. Art and storytelling exist in contradictions. Story telling is nothing but moral contradiction. Poetry is also moral contradiction between two words. Composition of Mozart and Rahman are contradictions between two notes. But they are so beautifully put in there that it suggests the harmony. And that harmony for you is the art of the artiste. That's why when I tell a story, it is done instinctively. The story and plot run in a certain way and underneath that exists the harmony that you are breathing.
Shekhar Kapur: What was it like working with me?
Manoj: I have been listening to this discussion on chaos, creativity, and act of creativity. And all this reminded me of the time when I was working as an actor under you. All of us were new at that time, we had just completed theater and were asked to face the camera. I remember Seema (Biswas) and I were doing a scene (in 'Bandit Queen') and you started talking about your relationship with your sister. I could see tears rolling down your cheeks. It had nothing to do with the scene we were talking about, but that story about your relationship with your sister did some trick to us. And such was the performance that I can proudly say it was the best scene I have done till now.
Manoj: I wanted to ask you when you direct an actor do you look for gaps that you are talking about? Or do you look for the whole being that you talked about?
Shekhar: What am I looking for? Creativity is something that happens in the moment. The fact is - when I go to shoot I panic myself - part of it is real. I start convincing myself that I'm going to get caught. Aaj pakda jaunga. Today everybody will get to know that I conned them. I panic, I panic and I panic. And when I get to the set, I have no idea about what to do because all my preparation has dissolved into panic. Why am I doing it? I'm really hoping for something new that comes from that moment. I hope for something fresh, something that belongs to that moment. That becomes real for me. Because my mind is out of the way.
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