Shekhar Kapur reveals his career nearly ended before it began after Masoom flopped on release: ‘Only two people in the theatre, and one was me’ | Hindi Movie News
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has officially announced the sequel to his acclaimed 1983 directorial debut Masoom, titled Masoom: The Next Generation. As the veteran filmmaker gears up for production, he took to social media to reflect on the turbulent release week of the original film and how it almost ended his career before it began.The sequel, which explores themes of home and identity, will star his daughter Kaveri Kapur.‘There were only two people in the theatre, and one was me’In an emotional post, Shekhar Kapur looked back at the Friday Masoom released in theatres and how he walked into a cinema hall to find it completely empty.“I walked into the theatre… and there were only two people in there, and one was me! The vast emptiness hit me like an avalanche. This was the end of my career as a filmmaker… which hadn’t actually started,” he wrote.He recalled how black marketeers, who had anticipated a commercial blockbuster, were disappointed by the film’s emotional and artistic tone.“The problem is you’ve made an ‘Article’ film,” one of them said to him, dismissively. Kapur later realised they meant “Artistic”, and it was not meant as a compliment.
From zero to full houses in six daysThe filmmaker shared how theatres remained empty from Friday through Tuesday, and distributors even began pulling the film from screens due to poor turnout.“On Wednesday the distributor of the film called me and said they had no choice but to pull the film from the theatres… On Thursday, I got a call from them saying that people had started to come in. On Friday the houses were full. On Saturday tickets were being sold in black by those that called Masoom an ‘Article’ film,” Kapur wrote.By the end of the week, the film was declared a hit, but the haunting memory of its near-failure stayed with him.“What happened on Thursday? I don’t know… and have always wondered. What if they didn’t come on Thursday?” he asked, adding that if that one day hadn’t turned things around, Masoom may have been lost to time.The new film will feature his daughter Kaveri Kapur in a leading role and aims to explore contemporary themes around home, belonging, and personal identity. While details remain under wraps, fans of the original, which starred Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Saeed Jaffrey, Jugal Hansraj, and Urmila Matondkar, are eager to see how the story is reimagined for today’s world.
