This year, Anil Kapoor completes 39 years as leading man of Hindi cinema. 65 and a case study of ageing prevention, he has delivered a winning performance as ageing police inspector Sureka in Thar, a Netflix film. While one might debate the strength of it’s story and plot, Thar stands out for stunning visual treatment reminiscent of classic Hollywood Westerns. And it brings Anil Kapoor back to relevance, a man who has mastered re-invention in the fluid world of acting.
Kapoor made an unusual debut in Woh Saat Din in 1983, having worked in smaller parts in Telugu and Hindi movies before that. Ever since he has been consistent and stayed popular. Having evolved in an era when a bound script or a coherent story on paper often didn’t exist for mainstream films Kapoor has grown as Hindi film hero on sheer talent and chutzpah.
But the actor in him, the one that could deliver on well-written characters, evolved later, proving an ability to adapt that few can boast of.
It is also essential to understand the relationship that this veteran star shares with his son, Harshvarrdhan Kapoor. For a boy of a film family, Harsh Varrdhan has preferred to let his work do the talking and hasn’t sought the limelight on a habitual basis. He had influenced his father’s decision to sign up for Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar winning Danny Boyle film where Kapoor plays an ego centric game show host and TV star. Harsh was thrilled when his father, not very familiar with Boyle’s work like Trainspotting, was offered this part. Kapoor took to the part which has grey shades like a fish to water, and found immediate acceptance in international cinema and TV. Before a culture of hype and publicity took over in Bollywood of social media dominated ‘Hollywood’ forays, this mainstream actor had already successfully found good work in international content. Be it 24 or Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, he made his mark amongst recognised Hollywood actors.
Thar, a concept film of sorts, first took life with Harsh Varrdhan. Chaudhary says, “Vikramaditya Motwane introduced me to Harsh Varrdhan when he was shooting for Bhavesh Joshi, and I felt that he was apt to play Siddharth. He liked the script and he came on board. After that, Harsh and I, when we were trying to put this film together, we realised that there was no one better than Anil Kapoor to play Surekha. He is a fantastic actor, brings huge star value; and it is almost like this character was written for him. Anil Kapoor liked the script but since I am a new director, he was a little hesitant initially…”
While he takes his son’s suggestions seriously, Kapoor ensures that he is working with genuine talent behind the camera. He is careful but not condescending. Raj Singh Chaudhary, the co-writer and director of Thar, recalls that he was almost auditioned as a director by the veteran star before he signed up for the film. “He made us (Harshvarrdhan and Raj) shoot three scenes, which we did, like a film, in Mumbai, Andheri. We shot it, edited it, did all the DI and background score. We showed it to him in a preview theatre and that he when he really liked those 3 scenes and he came on board. Once he came on board, he took it upon himself to see that this film gets made. He approached Netflix and the came on board too.”
As a producer, Kapoor has taken slow steps. In 1993 his brother Boney Kapoor faced abysmal losses after the mega production Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja flopped. Featuring Kapoor and the late Sridevi as the star pair, this expensive film hurt their family financially. It was also a time of interpersonal tensions as Boney Kapoor remarried Sridevi. But Kapoor bounced back. He used to reminisce over the fair-weather friendships of some film folk during his media interactions, honest and forthright about the instability of cinema. 1994 onwards, he appeared in entertaining and well-made films like Virasat, 1942 a Love Story; and popular films like Biwi No 1 and Taal. In 2000, he won his National Film Award for Best Actor for Pukar. Kapoor had survived when most contemporary actors were relegated to forgettable parts.
He brought the super-popular TV series 24 to India, co-producing it and mounting it like a slick film for TV. While the Indian version of 24 won praise it didn’t find many takers on TV, for the medium had begun to cater to mass tastes that veered towards the lowest common denominator. 24 was content that would work like a charm on OTT today. Perhaps that is why Thar has found a steady audience on Netflix since its release. As a film producer, he has found success intermittently, but his production Gandhi, My Father won a National Film Award Special Jury Mention for delving into a space that few have ventured so far.
Kapoor surprised with the unusual AK vs AK, a dark comedy that uses the film within a film narrative in a smart way, bringing out the natural born actor in him. He loads up his charm and restraint with Thar, in sync with the underwhelming tone of police dramas that have become global cults. As Raj Chaudhary says, “ he has this amazing ability to adapt to all sorts of sensibilities. He can adapt to all kinds of scripts and characters, and can act as per any sensibility and can deliver all kinds of tones in a character…. Another great thing about him is, no matter how new or young you are as director, he will sit down with you and discuss his character. He will ask you so many questions, that while answering them, you will discover that there are things you haven’t thought about. That helps the film.”
Thar is evidently a father-son creative collaboration that has brought Anil Kapoor’s acting prowess for young audiences. Hopefully, there’s more cinema and characters that will make it to OTT from this versatile star who has always managed to surprise us with reinvented performances.
Archita Kashyap is an experienced journalist and writer on film, music, and pop culture. She has handled entertainment content for broadcast news and digital platforms over 15 years.
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