Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, known for films like Bandit Queen, Elizabeth, and Mr. India, recently shared a reflective post on social media about failure, success, and the often overlooked space in between.

Shekhar Kapur shares powerful take on failure: “It’s not real, it’s just a judgment you place on yourself”

“What is failure except a judgment upon yourself?” he begins. The statement is more than a rhetorical question, it’s an invitation to self-inquiry. He challenges the idea that failure is an external reality, suggesting instead that it’s a reflection of our inner judgment. “For only those that judge themselves feel judged by others,” he wrote.

In poetic fashion, Shekhar Kapur likens life’s highs and lows to ocean waves: the crest and the trough constantly giving way to one another. The trough, symbolic of failure, inevitably pushes toward the crest, representing success. But just as naturally, the crest falls back into the trough. To Shekhar Kapur, it’s a cycle, inevitable, transient, and deeply tied to our perception of time.

What is failure except a judgment upon yourself ? For only those that judge themselves feel judged by others ..

Like waves in the ocean , the trough fights to become the crest .. and the crest always falls back into a trough .. it’s only a matter time ..

A matter of time …… pic.twitter.com/eXeg4VChiE

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) July 19, 2025

“A matter of time… yes,” he muses. “How long is your perception of time? Your perception of the time between the crest and the trough?” As a filmmaker, Shekhar Kapur knows the power of time manipulation. Slow motion in cinema allows audiences to feel a moment more deeply, to stretch experience, and in doing so, transform how it’s understood. He draws a parallel to life , that we can also reshape our understanding of success and failure simply by reframing how we perceive them.

And yet, Shekhar Kapur laments, we often look outward for validation. “We look for our self-worth in other people’s eyes, who themselves are looking for their own self-worth in others’ eyes too.” It’s a poignant reminder of the echo chamber we build when our self-worth is dictated by external approval. In the closing lines of his reflection, he ties it all together: “Success, self-worth, failure… and the space/time in between… it’s just perception. Your own perception of yourself.”

This isn’t just a philosophical reflection—it’s a personal note from someone who has experienced both recognition and the quieter challenges that come with it. As Shekhar Kapur works on Masoom: The Next Generation, a reimagining of the classic film, he stays true to his interest in exploring emotional depth and human experience through storytelling.

In a time when attention often centres on visibility and external measures of success, Shekhar Kapur offers a quiet reminder that the stories we tell ourselves matter just as much. In those stories, it’s perception—not judgment—that truly shapes how we see ourselves.

Also Read : Shekhar Kapur recalls eerie silence before Masoom became a hit: “They called it an ‘Article Film’”

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