Shekhar Kapur is India's top-grossing film-maker and director of the Oscar-winning films “Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” He is developing Paani ("water") ("Water"), a film that examines the daily struggle for water in the slums of Mumbai.

Kapur started his career as a management consultant after receiving a degree in accountancy, and formal training in chartered accountancy. Soon after, India’s entertainment industry beckoned and Kapur switched careers. He joined the Hindi film industry as an actor and worked in popular 1980s TV serials as well.

Moving on, Kapur directed some of India’s most popular and critically acclaimed films, Masoom (1983) and Mr India (1987). Kapur received international recognition with his fifth film Bandit Queen which won several international awards.

Kapur’s first international film Elizabeth (1998) received eight Oscar nominations including best picture. The sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) recently won the Academy Award for best costume design. In between films, Kapur co-produced the stage musical Bombay Dreams with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Kapur has co-founded Virgin Comics and Animation with author Deepak Chopra and British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Its studio of artists and writers is creating a new wave of Indian character entertainment for global distribution. It hopes to spark a creative renaissance in India—leading the country’s transition from outsourcer to a source of innovative and dynamic creations and creators.

Kapur was in New York in April directing a segment of the film New York, I Love You that Oscar-winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Cold Mountain) scripted and was planning to direct before he died in March. It features Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, and John Hurt.

Kapur has agreed to direct a $200-million fantasy-epic for Warner Brothers titled Larklight. Kapur is working with the screenwriter on the screen play for this franchise book that Warner Brothers hopes will be the new Harry Potter.