After an impressive debut in a leading role in the 1983 romantic drama Woh Saat Din (Those Seven Days). Anil Kapoor went on to receive critical acclaim for his roles in Yash Chopa's Mashal, Subhash Ghai's Karma and Meri Jung. Then in 1997 he starred in Bollywood's first ever sci-fi film Mr. India, the film became a box office smash and turned Anil Kapoor into a superstar. The films that followed became instant hits and showed Anil Kapoor's versatility as an actor.
Bollywood's Number One Actor of the 90's
He played the role of a simple minded college student turned criminal in the film Tezaab, he played a corrupt police officer seeking revenge for his father's death in Ram Lakhan and he played a mentally challenged man with a child's mind in Eeshwar. He also starred alongside Jackie Shroff in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's path breaking gangster film Parinda.
All these films depicted Anil Kapoor in a different light but they all had one thing in common and that was Anil Kapoor's performance. He gave a convincing and critically acclaimed performance in each film. As a result he was declared by the Indian media as the countries number one actor.
He went on to give award winning performances throughout the 90's. His most notable performance was as Naren Singh in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942 A Love Story. The film was only an average earner at the Indian box office but it saw record collections in the overseas market.
The film was set in 1942 when Britain ruled over India. At the time India was split into two groups; one supported and worked for the British and the other protested against them. In this back drop Anil Kapoor's character Naren Singh falls in love with Rajeshwari Pathak. Naren's father is a British supporter and Rajeshwari's father is actively involved against them. Naren is forced to choose between his father's hatred for the revolutionaries and his love for Rajeshwari, he chooses Rajeshwari and becomes entangled in the revolution.
In 1998 he won his first Filmfare Critics award for best performance for his role in Virasaat. The film gave a realistic depiction of Indian village politics. Then in 2001 he was honored with the most prestigious award an Indian can receive, he won the National Award for his performance as an Army officer in Pukaar.
The Success of Slumdog Millionaire Opened New Doors
With the release of his recent films it seemed like we had already seen the best of Anil Kapoor, the standard of his films were slipping. Although the films No Entry, Race and Welcome were box office hits, his performances were only mediocre and the films were just average Bollywood entertainers.
Last year he starred in his first English-language film as the creepy and condescending game show host in the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. Although he only had a small role in the movie he made his presence felt. For his performance he received a nomination for Best Ensemble at the Black Reel Awards of 2008 and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a Motion Picture.
Anil Kapoor is now taking advantage of the success of Slumdog Millionaire. Earlier this year it was announced that he would star in the eighth season of the award-winning action series 24. He will play President Omar Hassan a Middle Eastern leader who goes to America on a peacekeeping mission. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) he will be appearing in every episode.
He is currently in Hollywood shooting for the series.
