I’m not an opportunist but hungry for good work: Anil Kapoor
At 63, actor Anil Kapoor is still going strong, and his relevance in today’s time stems from the fact that he never got stuck to one genre. Taking a risk, yet again, by returning to action in his latest outing Malang, Anil has surprised everyone with his power-packed performance and punches. “I’m very happy with the response. Playing a complex role required a lot of prep not just physically, but mentally, too. To understand the inner workings of his mind was a journey that changed me in many ways. To see audiences take that journey with me and enjoy the experience has been very fulfilling!,” Kapoor shares.
Ask him how his children — Sonam K Ahuja, Rhea Kapoor and Harsh Varrdhan — reacted to his performance, and the actor laughs and says that often when they’re watching him on screen, they forget that he’s their father. “It may not sound like it, but to me it’s the greatest compliment that my characters are believable enough to make reality seem unreal for a while,” he adds.
With a career spanning four decades, Kapoor confesses that during the initial stages of his career, he was considered to be “the odd one out” for his film choices. “Initially, filmmakers wouldn’t consider me as a hero. So, they would only give me supporting roles. I got my first break as a hero in a Telugu film (Vamsa Vruksham, 1980). After doing a couple of Kannada and Telugu films, I made my comeback in Bollywood and bagged lead roles in Woh Saat Din (1983) and Mashaal (1984). I started getting good opportunities that brought a big turning point in my life and made me famous,” he says.
Since then, he has come a long way and admits there has never been a dearth of work. “I’ve never felt shy to knock on the director’s door. I’m not an opportunist but hungry for good work. Instead of waiting for directors to come to me, I just pick up the phone and talk to them or drop a message. I don’t over think what others would make of me, or would they consider me desperate. I don’t care because I know what my purpose is,” he says.
Though Kapoor boasts of an illustrious body of work that can make many envy him, he shares how that poses the biggest challenge for him. “I realised that certain directors — who I aspire to work with — feel intimidated by my persona and body of work and don’t approach me thinking that I might charge a lot. And on the other hand, I wonder why is it that he or she isn’t approaching me? (laughs) At this stage of my career, money is secondary and I prefer doing only quality work,” he concludes.