Times of India, August 5, 1999

NEW DELHI: Sir Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) walked in sporting a beige kurta-pyjama ensemble, looking sombre, suave and a few shades disappointed. Fiennes, who essays the role of Elizabeth's lover, tried hard to mask his disappointment over the current Elizabeth imbroglio which has resulted in the film being held back from formal release. Nevertheless, he couldn't help nodding fervently in acquiescence at Shek-har Kapur's tirade against the Censor Board at a press conference on Wednesday.

Coming down heavily on CBFC chairperson Asha Parekh's recent statements defending the three cuts in the film as published in The Times of India, Kapur said the Censor Board has no idea what cinema is all about. ``The Censor Board believes all filmmakers are nautanki wallahs. It does not understand they could be serious about their craft. It has no respect for cinema and believes we are idiotic and irrelevant people. That is why we make films,'' he reiterated.

According to him, the Censor Board chairperson's comments imputing he was protesting for the sake of media attention were ``horrifying'' and ``humiliating''. ``Why would I need publicity for a film which has already won sundry awards and grossed $ 100 million the world over?'' he queried. ``I am merely fighting because I believe no shot in the film is unimportant and every cut affects the film,'' he said.

Commenting on the Oscars which almost overlooked Elizabeth -- it won just one award for best make-up --Kapur confessed he was not really disappointed. Winning seven nominations was enough for him. Moreo-ver, there were other considerations apart from merit that determined the awards. ``The Oscars have become a financial consideration now. The whole business of an Oscar award increases the business pro-spects of the film by almost $ 100 million. There is so much at stake, so many pressures at work.''

On his part, Kapur felt Cate Blanchett deserved the Oscar for Best Actress more than Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love.

For Fiennes, who had earlier seen a few Satyajit Ray films, working with Kapur had been an experience. ``Shekhar is a wonderful director who not only accepts chaos, but reigns it in too. He has his antennae all over and is able to dissect human emotions extremely well,'' he said. And for Kapur, Fiennes is the perfect actor since ``very few actors are comfortable with no-ego roles. Extroverted performances not only get more accolades, they are easier to play too,'' believes Kapur. ``Rarely can an actor subdue his ego and play the fall guy. If Fiennes hadn't become the fall guy in Elizabeth, nobody would have appreciated Cate's performances,'' he explained.

The director has in the meantime, appealed to the Appellate Tribunal to reconsider the Censor Board's decision on Elizabeth.