WORLD CLASS
His languorous drawl and laid-back manner are misleading. He is on fire, a six million dollar man -- the going Hollywood rate for A-list directors to which he pogo-leaped after Elizabeth. Hollywood's calling, and here's Shekhar Kapur being himself -- stubborn. Says the actor-model-director and one time chartered accountant: "I'll do it my way."

And he does. Kapur was supposed to do a Nelson Mandela biopic right after Elizabeth. But he didn't think the white scriptwriter had enough anger, so he's delayed it. There's still Andrew Lloyd Webber's offer to direct the screen version of his epic Phantom of the Opera.

Now, the dilemma is of choice: the first Mumbai man to go global, he has to decide whether he does any of the 60 scripts from houses like Universal Pictures or Disney. Or finish what he left on the backburner in Mumbai: Tara Rum Pum Pum and Time Machine, the kind of musical kitsch he made his mark with before Bandit Queen pushed him to the stratosphere. Then there's Starlight, a company he has floated with Adi and Parmeshwar Godrej to make tv serials and movies. The charming braggart is at home.