Richard Curtis knows the ambitious project he has taken on will most likely fail. But he wants to fail magnificently. And he is doing everything he can to make sure of that.
A concert at New York City’s iconic Central Park — headlined by Coldplay, Pearl Jam and possibly some Indian musician — should give him a “Jurassic World opening”.
“I am a filmmaker and I like to think in those terms — opening,” he told Hindustan Times over phone from New York on Wednesday, clearly excited by the prospects.
Curtis, a British film writer and director responsible for such hits as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary, is also an active global social activist.
And he is now spearheading a global campaign to bring awareness about new development goals of the United Nations to the maximum people — 7 billion over seven days.
“With the old goals (UN's millennium development goals — MDGs ) there was always this feeling that the west somehow, the north somehow, will be giving aid to the south.”
“I don’t think that is relevant anymore. What we are trying to do is to get people in their own countries to demand from their governments on what they will do the things they promised.”
{{/usCountry}}“I don’t think that is relevant anymore. What we are trying to do is to get people in their own countries to demand from their governments on what they will do the things they promised.”
{{/usCountry}}This September, UN will transition from its millennium goals that started in 2000, which it believes was a success, to Sustainable Development Goals, the next phase.
The new goals are called Sustainable Development Goals — 17 in all including poverty eradication and climate change — and Curtis has put everything he could behind it.
India’s AR Rahman and Hrithik Roshan, included.
So, what is Rahman going to do?
“We had a Skype call the other day,” said Curtis. “Both of us were sleepy — it was the end of a long day for me… he wants to think about it — we talked about an entire range of things.”
Curtis said there is a possibility of an Indian musician performing at the Central Park concert, not certain yet.
“Between you and me,” he said when asked about the prospects of his campaign, “I thing we will fail.”
But, he added, “I want to fail magnificently.”