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Shekhar Kapur on strange souvenirs, sake, and the most spiritual place on Earth

Shekhar Kapur:
Shekhar Kapur:

Shekhar Kapur, the Bafta-winning Indian film director, recalls his most memorable travels.

I deliberately get lost

I love to wander and avoid structure and routine. Only by wandering can you find yourself. I am fortunate that I’m able to take holidays for long enough where I can find myself and replenish myself. I normally come back with a script or some ideas. Travelling is a great inspiration for both my work and myself as a person.

Harlem at night is incredible

I knew it might be a little dangerous but I walked around after dark just to see what would unfold. At first I was a little scared but I quickly made friends and these locals invited me to a club, took me to a back room into a tiny temple where I met this African American healer who had been to India and was chanting Sanskrit. All of this happened because I simply wandered.

I got to know New York very well

I met John Hurt [the late English actor] when I was directing a short film for the New York I Love You anthology and became very familiar with the city. He became a very close family friend before he died. Julie Christie, who I’d idolised when I studied in London, was also in that movie.

Shia LeBeouf was the definition of obsession

The most amazing moment on the New York I Love You project was with the American actor before casting. He asked me to meet him in a hotel coffee shop in Manhattan and I couldn’t find him anywhere. Then there was this guy walking with a huge limp and looking funny and his head was shaking. He said hello and I realised it was him doing the part. He just turned up in character auditioning for the role.

The corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in the heart of Harlem, New York - Credit: istock
The corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in the heart of Harlem, New York Credit: istock

You get energy from a good filming location

The actors Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush were as inspired as I was by our surroundings while filming Elizabeth. If you are at that level of performance, you’re always trying to dig deep within yourself and look for directors that encourage you to go deep. So I talked to them about the spiritual power of the locations. We filmed in New Zealand and Britain in these 12th-century cathedrals and the energy we all derived from the locations was immense.

If you see one place in India

Go to Ladakh, not the Taj Mahal, Jaipur or Rajasthan. It’s a mountain desert known for its breathtaking beauty. I did a Bollywood adventure film up there with horses who fared much better than us humans.

Sunrise at Nubra Valley in Ladakh - Credit: istock
Sunrise at Nubra Valley in Ladakh Credit: istock

Ladakh is the most spiritual place in the world

This region of India has a deeply spiritual vastness. I seek natural beauty and a sense of solitude whenever I travel. For that I’ll usually go to Kerala or an ashram to study Ayurveda.

I nearly died in the Himalayas

I completely lost my way on a mountain called Ama Dablam, which means mother’s necklace. I remember sitting there in the dark thinking I’m going to die, but the moonlight saved me. It was like a sign from God.

Ama Dablam - Credit: istock
Ama Dablam Credit: istock

I rarely keep souvenirs

But the gift I treasure most was given to me at Everest Base Camp. A man I’d struck up a friendship with stank very badly because he’d been travelling with yaks. That night, a little drunk, I asked his wife how she could bear the stink. She replied: “What stink?” and told me she couldn’t bear the smell of the climbers who travelled to the mountains from the city. The next morning he presented me with a set of the smelly clothes, which I still keep today.

Morocco felt like sensory overload

I was there to film Four Feathers in the desert with Heath Ledger [the late Australian actor]. One day I just wanted to sense what it would be like to be lost in the desert. I told my crew: “Please just get out of my sight for a while and go to a place where I can’t see you.” And they said: “We can’t just leave you here,” to which I said: “That’s the idea. Give me a couple of hours alone.” Your senses become so acute. When my crew went away, all I could hear was my breathing and all I could see was this flat moonscape. And whenever I moved I could just hear the little bits of sand crunch beneath my feet.

The Moroccan desert - Credit: Getty
The Moroccan desert Credit: Getty

I love the clash between modern and ancient

I’m fascinated by Beijing for its combination of the old and new. It’s got the most modern architecture in the world yet when you get into certain parts of the city you’ll discover gardens, traditions and culture thousands of years old.

Modern Beijing - Credit: Getty
Modern Beijing Credit: Getty

Sake will make you the world’s friendliest person

I adore drinking hot sake in Japan. There’s something beautiful about the way it slides smoothly down your throat and you feel like you’re getting a little high. It’s a beautiful feeling and you never wake up the next morning with a hangover.

The Maldives may not be around for a long time

We have to think about it and we don’t have a choice. I attended a conference recently there at a beautiful island resort called Soneva Fushi where they recycle all the water. Nothing is wasted. Ecological consideration is important to me. I’m very involved with water conservation so I like to check whether a destination is ecologically aware before I travel there.

Soneva Fushi Maldives - Credit: RICHARD WAITE
Soneva Fushi Maldives Credit: RICHARD WAITE

I’m attracted to danger

It’s why I left accountancy work. But white water rafting drunk wasn’t my best idea. I also once fell out of a boat in the town of Leh in India. I kept asking for help but everyone kept laughing. They all thought it was a joke.

Open yourself up to chaotic experiences

Do not take package holidays. Travel should be an adventure.

Shekhar Kapur has created Brides of the Well, an animation film highlighting the global water crisis, for Water Aid. Watch it at wateraid.org/bridesofthewell.

Interview by Nick McGrath