'Slumdog' Jerk Anil Kapoor About to Meet Jack Bauer

By Nicki Gostin Posted Jan 16th 2010 03:00PM

In 'Slumdog Millionaire,' Anil Kapoor played a smarmy, evil version of Regis Philbin. As host of the Indian version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', he spent the hit movie plotting and conniving to thwart the fortunes of young Jamal. Nowadays, the humble and hard-working Kapoor (he has 100 movies under his belt) is changing gears and trying American TV on for size. His first foray is a slam dunk: he's playing the president of a fictitious Middle-Eastern country in the midst of crisis in '24.' Who'll be there to help? We're betting on this guy name Jack Bauer.

PopEater chatted with the charming Kapoor about his sudden rise to International fame, the insane shooting schedule in India and on playing an "asshole so well" in 'Slumdog.'

Tell me about your role on '24' (a multi-episode arc that begins Monday on FOX).
I play the President of a Middle Eastern country. I come to the U.S. to sign a peace agreement and it's a very complex role of statesman and liberal leader. All my scenes are basically in the U.N. with the President of the United States (Cherry Jones) and I have a few scenes with Keifer Sutherland.

Did you watch the show before?
Yes of course! Who doesn't watch the show? It's huge in India.

Take this as a compliment but you played an asshole so well in 'Slumdog.'
Absolutely. In '24' I'm the complete opposite. There are other assholes but I'm playing the good guy.

Did your life completely change after the film became such a success?
Yes before I was just doing Indian films and now I'm traveling the world. London, L.A., Bombay. Spending a lot of time on the plane like George Clooney in 'Up in the Air.'

Did you find people sucking up to you after 'Slumdog' became a big hit?
(Laughs) No, I started sucking up to people. Like my wife, because I was spending so much time away from her. I had to suck up to her otherwise she wouldn't let me go.

You've been in over 100 Indian movies. Do you laugh when you hear Hollywood actors complain about being tired from doing a movie?
Yeah, I get shocked. They hardly work and they get tired. When I say I've done 100 movies they look at me as if they are looking at some kind of animal.

How many movies do you shoot a year?
The last few years only one but before that it was 4 to 6 a year. It was like a 9 to 5 job.

Why did you start shooting one a year?
It's a combination. Things have changed in India. There's big money now in the film industry. It's become more professional, and audience tastes have become more sophisticated, so people expect better quality films. If you want cinema that is aesthetically correct then you have to give it more time. Also now you get enough money for one film to survive, earlier you weren't paid that much.

What do you think is the biggest misconception Americans have about India?
I think they don't know the kind of progress it has made in terms of infrastructure, education, democracy and the economy. There is tremendous progress. If you go to any of the cities and see the hotels, the multiplexes, the theaters, the airports, some of them are far superior to any of the airports in America. It's very young, very modern, very new and it's growing really, really fast.

You have 3 kids and they're all following you into showbiz.
My wife felt it was not a good idea. She kept them away from films and magazines. She tried her best but she failed and I won.

Tags: 24, anil kapoor, Slumdog Millionaire

Comments

(2)

Saturday 16 January

By chuanyuerh

Vote down Vote up Report this

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seek ing the rich singles, sex y beauties. ...what's the most important is that you don't have to be a milli onaire, but you can me et one. ...

Meet a Rich Match on

w w w . w e a l t h y l o v i n g . c o m

The bes t c l u b f o r
seek ing the rich singles, sex y beauties. ...what's the most important is that you don't have to be a milli onaire, but you can me et one. ...

Meet a Rich Match on

w w w . w e a l t h y l o v i n g . c o m

The bes t c l u b f o r
seek ing the rich singles, sex y beauties. ...what's the most important is that you don't have to be a milli onaire, but you can me et one. ...
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Sunday 17 January

By kanank

Anil Kapoor says there is tremendous progress in India in many areas. He missed few things in the list. Corruption,lawlessness discrimination, terrorism, nepotism,population,pollution,garbage are so rampant in India and they have grown so much in the last decade along with the progress in many of the areas that he cites. These have contributed to worse quality of life than the earlier decade. There is no way one can succeed in India by being honest. Indians have brought these bad qualities to US and I am already seeing the difference in America because of the influx of so many Indians in the last decade.

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