Shekhar Kapur’s segment in the film New York I Love You -a collection of short stories -is dedicated to the late Anthony Minghella, who wrote the script of this segment and had intended to direct it, but passed away before the movie was completed.
Producer Emmanuel Benbihy recalls, "They had a long conversation about life and death. Anthony only wanted Shekhar to do his segment because of his different approach and was sure Shekhar would be very true to his own vision. We were lucky that Shekhar was available and said yes."
When Shekhar was asked what inspired him to do this film, he said, "When I read the script, I asked Anthony, ‘What does it essentially mean?’ I immediately realized the power of that question. I had to discover the meaning of the film in the making of the film and when he died so tragically, these statements took on an even greater meaning for me. In order to make this film, I imagined Anthony smiling down at me and laughing at my perplexity on how to shoot this film, challenging me to find solutions instinctively. That is how I directed this film."
After the film was directed, Shekhar showed the film to Carolyn, Anthony’s wife. She said "Thank you Shekhar, this is a perfect book to end Anthony’s body of work."
