How often have you seen anyone talk about who produced a movie unless it's YRF or Dharma productions? Rarely! That doesn't dilute what a lot of film producers have done over the years to make Bollywood a better place with movies that would have never hit the screens had they not put their weight behind them. One such maverick producer is Siddharth Roy Kapur. He started as a Procter & Gamble recruit in the Brand Management department and soared to become the youngest VP in the Star Group back in 2003. He joined UTV in 2005 and since then has been wowing us with some of the best titles ever produced in Indian cinema.  Siddharth Roy Kapur Nabs Rights to William Dalrymple Bestseller Book ‘The Anarchy’

After funding some of the biggest hits of Indian cinema till date (Dangal, P.K.), Kapur moved on from Disney acquired UTV to form his own company Roy Kapur Films in 2017. But his penchant for selecting scripts that are diverse, relatable and impactful stays intact. Two big examples of that being Yeh Ballet and The Sky Is Pink. Today on his birthday, we list out 10 movies backed by him which makes us thank him every time we watch them.

 

Rang De Basanti (2006)

Another star-studded big-budget movie headlined by Aamir Khan. Kapur called it one of the biggest high points of his career. "One of my biggest high points has come from Rang De Basanti because it changed the way society looked at something. Candle-light marches actually started happening after the film so it was almost like the film gave people a visual representation of how to go out there and protest," he told Filmfare. We all know what RDB did to us. Be it the actors or the characters, everything spoke to us and so did A R Rahman's adrenaline-pumping music!

Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006)

The same year there was also this medium-budgeted non-star laced satirical comedy Khosla Ka Ghosla. Kapur and UTV were so confident about the film that they held screenings a week before its release. He was absolutely right! In a year of Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai, Khosla Ka Ghosla won a National Award. It needs courage and a good calculative brain to understand how to cater to all kinds of the audience. KKG introduced the middle-class genre which is still raking in the good moolah at the box office.

A Wednesday (2008)

A Wednesday was one of those gems which could have been lost in the theatres had it not had the support of UTV. Today, it's a movie we relate to and love to watch on the loop. Kapur co-founded UTV Spotboy to support movies like A Wednesday to reach the audience. It also gave Bollywood one of its finest directors Neeraj Pandey.

Dev-D (2009)

Shah Rukh Khan's Devdas is more remembered for its grandeur and then came Dev D many years later which changed completely the way we view Saradindu Chatterjee's story. Kapur had mentioned in his interview with Filmfare that people were iffy about this film as it isn't a conventional on-screen adaptation of the popular book. But it worked and how! Dev D is also instrumental in telling a conditioned society like ours that women owning her sexuality is not the job of a vamp. It's a human instinct and women are human.

Udaan (2010)

Udaan took time to be made but when it hit the theatres, it was rewarded. Thus started the conversation about such movies which are low on budget and high on content, performances, and execution. Kapur with Disney UTV found a perfect balance for his studio by backing Udaan and Raajneeti the same year. Kapur had always maintained that he looks for variety and a broad range in movies. That has definitely given him an acute understanding of what the audience wants.

Delhi Belly (2011)

An Aamir Khan production which of course benefitted from his name attached to it but pushing a movie which is unlike what the actor has produced before does need some brave brains. Putting faith in a movie that had three non-traditional male leads doing a host of unconventional things, Delhi Belly was one of a kind.

Paan Singh Tomar (2012)

Paan Singh Tomar starring the later Irrfan Khan in the titular role is by far the best biopic ever made in the last decade or more. Backing a film of such nature to creating a buzz about it through a coffee table book after its release, says how much Kapur had faith in the project. Didn’t Join Bollywood to Make Films with Stars, Says ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ Director Tigmanshu Dhulia

Barfi! (2012)

This movie had big names like Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, a surefire audience puller? Not really! In this movie, Ranbir is deaf and mute while PC suffers from Autism. Not a usual love story between two good looking stars and yet Barfi! is one of the best movies from the UTV stables. And it was a leap of faith. Kapur in his interview with Filmfare had said, "It’s the leap of faith you take with a director. With him (Director Anurag Basu), it’s not about a bound script but the emotions he makes us feel when he tells us a story."

ABCD - Anybody Can Dance (2013)

A dance film, a pure dance film is highly rare. We doubt if there has been one completely dedicated to the craft in this industry and thus ABCD was path-breaking. Again no known faces, most of them are choreographers, dance assistants, and back up dancers who made it to the cast and that's exactly why the film worked. Kapur in an interview had said that because they backed movies like Khosla Ka Ghosla and others, ABCD didn't need a crutch to get audience's love.

Shahid (2013)

Shahid was a niche film and yet a lot of people call it one of Rajkumar Rao's bests. It always had a limited audience for being the story that it is, but it was backed by Kapur led Disney UTV acquired the film and made it reach the theatres so that the story of Shahid Azmi gets the right audience.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 02, 2020 08:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).