Anil, who is gearing for the second part of The Night Manager, explains how his craft and choice of roles have helped him survive 40 years in the industry
Anil Kapoor
It’s his last interview in what has been a long day. So, is Anil Kapoor tired? “I’m just warming up,” he quips, ready to chat about the second part of The Night Manager. Perhaps, it is this relentless spirit that has aided his 40-year run in an otherwise fickle industry.
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Over the past decade, the senior actor has carefully picked strong roles, shining as bright as the protagonist. It’s all in the mind, he says. “Even if I have four scenes in a film, or a cameo, I feel that I am the leading man on that given day. Of course, I don’t overstep the boundary. I give due respect to people who, in that moment, are responsible for the film to have a certain positioning. But internally, I do my best to not feel inferior to anybody. I don’t try to prove anything to anyone unless someone steps on my toes,” he shares.
Regardless of his screen time, Kapoor is dependable as ever—be it as the selfish father in 'Jugjugg Jeeyo' (2022), or in his latest Disney+ Hotstar offering. In the adaptation of the British original of the same name, he plays the antagonist, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with leading man Aditya Roy Kapur. Kapoor, however, credits creator Sandeep Modi’s vision and the writing for the series’ well-rounded characters. “When the script and book [from which the show is adapted] are fantastic, you can add nuances to a character. Sometimes people don’t work hard, and expect great results. If you don’t prepare well, you might do good work, but not the kind that has happened in this show.”
That said, the senior actor is quick to admit that the crime drama came with some risks—ones that he was willing to take, given his faith in the material. “There are some boxes that a project has to tick—the story, the script, my character and so on. With 'The Night Manager', I took a chance on a few things. For instance, I was working with the platform and Banijay [production house] for the first time. Sandeep is a [relatively] new director, who had co-directed 'Aarya'. I have worked on an adaptation before with 24, but I was also a producer on that project. Here, I was just an actor. Fortunately, all these [risks] paid off.”
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