In this year&rsquo;s edition of Jagran Film Festival, many films earned standing ovations and loud whistles. Rajat Kapoor&rsquo;s Ankhon Dekhi was one of them. After the screening, he spoke to cine-enthusiasts and even posed for selfies with the crowd. hitlist caught up with the actor-director...
<img title="Rajat Kapoor. Pics/Satayit Desai" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/nov/24-Rajat-Kapoor.jpg" alt="Rajat Kapoor. Pics/Satayit Desai" /> Rajat Kapoor. Pics/Satayit Desai
Ankhon Dekhi was lauded by critics but it attracted lukewarm response at the box office. So how does such a film&rsquo;s screening at a film fest help? Well, this exposure helps build an audience for future films of a similar nature. Audiences aren&rsquo;t built in a day. And I&rsquo;ve noticed this not only in India but also in foreign countries. Two days ago, I was in Chicago for a film fest and next week, I&rsquo;ll be in Rome for the same. Ankhon Dekhi will have two shows there. Even if 300 people show up, it&rsquo;s a triumph for us. Of course, I don&rsquo;t expect the kind of impact Gangs of Wasseypur had at Cannes. But it&rsquo;s only when you go out there with your films, that you learn about them and in the process, a bit about yourself.
What are your thoughts on the rising number of film fests in our country? It&rsquo;s a wonderful idea, especially when an established brand like Jagran throws itself into the arena. Most film festivals take place in metropolitan areas, Jagran Film Festival goes on a long ride through 16 cities, including smaller cities like Agra, Ranchi, Patna and Varanasi. People out there get a chance to taste a piece of this cinema.
So do you think such measures will bring a drastic change in our attitude towards cinema in smaller towns? Getting at least 200 people to watch a small film is a victory in itself and a film festival allows that possibility. You take these baby steps towards making a particular kind of cinema accessible to all. For example, we were having a play in Ranchi and it was based on Hamlet. Now Vinay (Pathak) was apprehensive about the crowd because the play was in English. But we were in for a surprise as more than 400 people turned up for the show. So let&rsquo;s change our perception about smaller towns. It&rsquo;s only when we go there and see things first hand that we&rsquo;ll understand them.
The point is that you can never predict where talent and new ideas are going to flourish. Think about it. Anurag Kashyap came from Benares, right? He didn&rsquo;t have a fancy education from Doon&rsquo;s, did he?
What drives you as a filmmaker? Conviction and aesthetics drive me. Every filmmaker wants to do something different but sometimes, it clicks and sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t. I admire Woody Allen a lot. He makes at least one film a year but not all of his work has hit the mark. He keeps himself driven by the stories he wants to tell.
What&rsquo;s next for you? Well, I can&rsquo;t work on my next project unless I have enough funding. Money is always an issue for the kind of films I want to make. I will anyway spend say, a month in a year attending film festivals since Ankhon Dekhi released only recently. The other months will see writing, acting and gathering funds for my next venture.

5th Jagran Film Festival Day 5: The show goes on

Actor-director Rajat Kapoor on how the shift from metropolitan centres towards India&rsquo;s interiors is benefiting the film industry

Let's change our perception about smaller towns: Rajat Kapoor

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Let's change our perception about smaller towns: Rajat Kapoor

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