The Jagran Film Festival (JFF), renowned as the world’s largest traveling film festival, commenced the 12th edition with tagline, “Good Cinema for Everyone”. The highlight of the event was the presence of the legendary actor and director, Pankaj Kapur. Known for his remarkable performances in films like Maqbool and his literary masterpiece Dupehri, versatile actor Pankaj offered profound insights into the evolution of the film industry.
During the conversation, an audience member asked Kapur which emerging actor had impressed him the most. He responded, ‘To name just one actor will be unfair to others. But I think we have a whole lot of youngsters who are very talented and doing great work. And I look forward to seeing their work. I wish them the best. They are also experimenting with the kind of work they are doing. Having said that, I would definitely say that my own son Shahid is one of the finest actors of the country.”
The session also touched on the generational divide, with talented actor Pankaj Kapur reflecting on the unique qualities of today’s youth. “The youth of today has much more understanding of today’s times than us. We should accept this wholeheartedly. The youngsters should also be aware of some things. If you get things in life quickly, they can also go away quickly. This is the one thing everyone should always remember. It has become very easy for us today that we can get anything by Google. Any performance can be copied after watching it online. In this era of AI, my kids tell me, you feed information, and it can present you poetry, story, script or even a screenplay. But is it driven by passion? Does it have a soul? Does it have the power to communicate with one another? No!”
Moderated by Dimpy Sharma, the session explored Retrospective Cinema through Pankaj Kapur’s unparalleled perspective on acting, storytelling, and filmmaking.