(Top) Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and actor Kabir Bedi in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, March 22: Acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and veteran actor Kabir Bedi exchanged ideas with aspiring filmmakers at a session organised by KIIT School of Film and Media Sciences today.

The two veterans and young film director Nilamadhab Panda spoke on the theme “New Generation and Cinema in the 21st Century”.

Panda said art forms such as filmmaking could not remain purely a matter of passion, as there were different demands from life.

“I had to sell my house to find finances for my first film. Moreover, when producers invest in our films, it becomes our responsibility to make a film that can bring in returns,” he said.

On the sidelines of the event, Kapur told The Telegraph that his upcoming film Paani would take up the issue of receding groundwater levels. “Imagine a future when there is little or no water available. Water tankers will be under the control of the army. Wars will be fought over water. Flowing rivers, wells replete with water will become part of folklore. Earlier, people told me that such a theme was preposterous. Now, the same people tell me that I should make the film fast or else we might run out of water completely before it is ready!” said the critically acclaimed director.

He said shooting for the film would begin in October and it would release in 2014. Asked about the sequel to the cult hit, Mr India (1989), Kapur said: “I won’t direct it, but such a film should be definitely be made. It is a welcome step.”

Asked by film students what qualities were needed to make a good director, he said it was the wish to satisfy one’s inner creative urge, not qualities. “I was a chartered accountant before getting into films,” he said.

Kapur is a man who dons several hats. Not only is he an actor and director, but also keen on writing comics. “There is a lot of gap between two films. A person needs to do something and that is why I have taken up writing comics as I have grown up reading them,” said Kapur, co-founder of Virgin Comics.

Bond film Octopussy actor Kabir Bedi was asked how films be used to make people respect women.

“I feel it is the duty of every individual and everything that can influence us to ensure safety and respect towards women. But films can definitely change the way they show heroes stalking heroines,” he said.

The three also inaugurated an art gallery — Kirti Kalpa — on the KIIT campus and Blue, a contemporary art show hosted by various voluntary organisations, on occasion of the World Water Day.