Bollywood on Creativity

Abstract

This paper explores creativity through the eyes of an individual renowned worldwide for his creativity and intellect: the film director Shekhar Kapur, who is the first film director to successfully span the Hollywood–Bollywood divide. We provide a critical overview of the literature of creativity from a business perspective, with an emphasis on the individual and organizational dimensions, and their impact on enhancing and transforming performance. This review of the literature is a prelude to the insights to creativity furnished by our conversation and interview with Mr. Kapur, whose films have won numerous awards in his native India and whose biopics of Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth and its sequel) produced for Hollywood secured no less than seven Oscar nominations, including that for best picture. The paper, through the combination of interview and literature, presents new insights to our understanding of creativity and it as a source of superior business performance.