Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, known for pushing cinematic boundaries with films like Masoom, Bandit Queen, Mr. India, and Elizabeth, has now turned his attention to the tectonic shifts happening in the content world. In a recent post, Shekhar Kapur delivered a stark message: “If you’re a gatekeeper in the content business, you won’t survive.”
In an era where Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing creation, distribution, and access, Shekhar Kapur’s warning rings loud. “Amazing how unaware people in the content business are of immense change AI is causing,” he wrote. “We’re either too afraid of change, or hiding our heads in the sand…”
For Shekhar Kapur, AI isn’t just another tech wave, it’s the most democratic technology of our time. “Soon kids will be able to create content that was once the realm of big-budget studio movies or shows, at a tiny, tiny fraction of your budgets,” he noted. The implication is clear: the traditional studio system’s monopoly on scale, polish, and production is being rapidly dismantled.
Shekhar Kapur also challenged a long-standing assumption, that creators still need traditional platforms, questioning: “Remember TikTok? It was multi billion dollar business before Hollywood could even spell the word!” The crux of his message? The future belongs to storytellers, not gatekeepers.
At a time when AI tools are already enabling indie creators to produce sophisticated visual effects, write scripts, and even animate full scenes, Shekhar Kapur’s perspective feels not just timely, but urgent. As a Padma Bhushan awardee, and a visionary filmmaker, anticipation keeps building around Masoom 2, the sequel to one of his most beloved films, and his words serve as both a rallying cry for young creators and a wake-up call for legacy institutions still clinging to control.
