Saurabh Shukla on ‘Bandit Queen’: Kapur’s Humour, My Creative Compass

The profound impact of director Shekhar Kapur on actor Saurabh Shukla’s artistic development continues to resonate, particularly from their collaboration on the seminal film ‘Bandit Queen.’ Shukla, reflecting on this early career milestone, highlighted Kapur’s extraordinary talent for finding humor within harrowing narratives. ‘Bandit Queen,’ which depicted the life of the infamous Phoolan Devi, was inherently a dark and challenging film. Yet, Shukla observed Kapur’s dedication to discovering moments of levity and relatable human absurdity. He shared an anecdote about a robbery scene where a villager’s pragmatic request for liquor amidst the chaos served as a stark reminder of Kapur’s ability to find the human, and often humorous, beneath the surface of extreme situations. This perspective, Shukla explained, solidified his own creative philosophy: that humor is indispensable for capturing the completeness of the human experience in storytelling. He also noted Kapur’s exceptional skill in capturing authentic dialogue delivery through his deep appreciation for spoken rhythm, even when the language wasn’t his own.