Shekhar Kapur`s `Paani` to seek solution for water shortage

Cannes: Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who is a jury member at this year`s Cannes festival, hopes to find a solution to the grave problem of global water shortage through his next venture ‘Paani’.

The shooting of the film, starring Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, will begin in November in Singapore and Dubai. Based on a book by Maude Barlow, `Blue Covenant: the global water crisis and the coming battle for the right` and scripted by David Farr, ‘Paani’ will tell a dark story about the looming water crisis. Announcing this here, Kapur said his movie would dramatise how this shortage will affect relationships among individuals, cities, states and nations. The beautiful young daughter of the chairman of the world`s largest water corporation arrives in the upper city of plentiful. On a chance encounter in the impoverished city, she is kidnapped by the young water warrior. A love story that changes minds and methods, ‘Paani’ will be set to music by Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman. Kapur said that water could well become a weapon in the future with corporates taking over its distribution. "This is what I hope my work will draw attention to, provoke a debate and hopefully help find a solution to this grave problem," he said. When asked whether it could help catch the eye of the politicians, Kapur quipped that his film ‘Bandit Queen’ did manage to do that as the film`s protagonist Phoolan Devi gave up arms, served her sentence and went on to become a political figure. And ‘Paani’ hopes to melt hearts and move minds with its tale of young love that is unwittingly drawn into this messy revolution. "It is the story of young love caught in the flurry of conflict and war between two cities, one that is rich and waterful and the other that is poor and waterless, where the water rats are forced steal that precious liquid," he said, adding he plans to bring his movie here next year. Kapur is on the international jury, a position held by Sharmila Tagore, Nandita Das, Aishwarya Rai and Arundhati Roy at different points of time. PTI