‘I WAS BORN IN, BELONG TO, AND WILL TAKE LAST BREATH IN BOLLYWOOD’
Anil Kapoor calls the film industry his forever home, and is glad to be back to work
Actor Anil Kapoor has been entertaining audiences for four decades now. Born to producer Surinder Kapoor, he has literally grown up in the film industry, and witnessed all the changes. The one thing he is sure about is that of all the factors involved in making it big in showbiz, talent is indeed a “big part of it”. “However, without hard work and focus, talent can become directionless, says Kapoor, adding, “If you want to make it in this business, you have to be ready to give it your all, to not let setbacks keep you down and to persist in the face of all odds. You need guts and grit to survive and level-headedness to thrive.”
How was it growing up for him here, and what kind of a place does he feel Bollywood is? The 63-year-old gets emotional and says, “I don’t think I ever saw the film industry as anything other than home – the place I was always meant to be. I was born into it, I belong to it and I will take my last breath here.”
With Unlock guidelines in place and permission for shoots to resume across India, Kapoor is back to work, though with standard operating procedures in place. “I have resumed shooting, so that has been keeping me busy. It feels great to be back and doing what I love. There’s no denying that the way we do things has changed now, but change is exciting. We have started work with careful planning and stringent precautionary measures in place. I have been working on a couple of projects in these past weeks. Slowly and gradually, we all are getting back to work,” the actor shares.
What Kapoor’s fans also didn’t miss is the kind of fitness frenzy he is undergoing ever since the lockdown started. At his age, he looks set to give the younger stars a run for their money. He laughs and says, “I have been toying with the idea of changing my workout routine for a while now, but it takes several months to really commit to a new regime and my schedule hadn’t allowed for that until recently. The lockdown gave me the perfect opportunity for that and so I poured myself into it. I still have a long way to go, but it has been fun and seeing the results inspires me to push myself even more.”