Today is Anil Kapoor‘s forty-ninth birthday and he’s just had one of his biggest-ever hits in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Did he think it would be such an international success? “Not in the least,” he declares, “In fact, the other night Danny Boyle and I were discussing how both of us were totally overwhelmed by how well the film’s done.”
The ensemble cast of the movie has been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award in the US, an event that takes place in January. How does Anil feel about that? “It’s phenomenal,” he says, “To be nominated to the Screen Actors Guild Awards is huge.” And then the Oscars? “I’m not talking Oscars. I’m not even thinking that,” he demurs.
More than anything, Anil is happy that the movie’s success will be of benefit to the Indian film industry. “In the long run, I think this film will pave the way for many more projects being shot in India,” he says, “This in turn will create a lot of job opportunities for technicians at home.”
Never one to stand still, recently, Anil’s been talking about his desire to do a film in Kollywood. “I dream of doing a Tamil movie,” he explains, “I have done Bollywood for so long and now even have a Hollywood film against my name. I started my career with a Telugu film, but no offers yet from Kollywood. I’d love to work with Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, and then the younger crop like Surya, Vijay and Vikram.”
