In the critically acclaimed and award winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, Anil Kapoor plays the host of the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Today on the television show Live! with Regis and Kelly he hosted a mini version of the show with Regis Philbin in the hot seat. Regis was the host of the super hit American version of the game show. The segment began with a small interview with Kapoor and then it moved on to a 4-question version of the popular game show complete with mini set.
Some highlights from the interview included:
When the always enthusiastic Anil was announced, he came out with a huge smile and lifted Regis up in a big bear hug to the cheers of the audience. After a small introduction Regis then asked, “You got your first job as a child?” Anil answered as only he could, “Absolutely, I think I was about 12. I ran away from my house to audition for my first film. The film never released by the way. But you know what I did? They had put make-up on my face and I didn’t remove the make-up for two days. I left it on because when they sent me to school, you know the friends would ask me, ‘You know your cheeks are looking a little red’. ‘You know I am acting in a film. So that everybody should know I am acting in a film.'” Regis also revealed that when Danny Boyle first called about the role in the film Anil did not return any of his calls. Anil explained that he gets so many messages and he did not recognize the name so he did not call back but then: “Suddenly my son gets to know, I just mentioned it to him while we were having breakfast. ‘DANNY BOYLE, you don’t know who Danny Boyle is? Ajiib, come to my room, come to my room. You see this poster and you have been seeing this poster for so many years and it is Trainspotting. That’s Danny Boyle, you just call him up right now, right now.’ A clip from the film was then shown and Kelly told him that both she and Regis think that Slumdog Millionaire is the best movie they have ever seen. Talk then turned to the Screen Actor Guild Awards where Anil accepted the statue on behalf of the cast for Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Anil said, “I tell you what it was one of those high points of your life, which I will always cherish. To be in front of you peers and the entire American film industry and you get this opportunity… And I tell you what these awards should go to the children because of their performances… I mean it!”
To the audiences’ delight the next segment was the Who Wants to Be A Millionaire mini game show. Anil was, as ever, the exuberant host and Regis the contestant, answering four questions including what was Kelly’s name on All My Children, his anniversary date, a question about Notre Dame’s bad football season with 3 and 9 record and finally a question about a General in WW2! To see if he got them all right you will have to catch the show!
Speaking of Danny Boyle, he was recently honored with Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film by the Directors Guild of America. This gives a good indication that he may also take home the Oscar since 55 of the 60 past DGA Award winners also went on to win the Academy Award. The film is nominated in 10 categories at this year’s awards on February 22nd. Slumdog Millionaire is also up for 11 BAFTA awards, which will be given out on February 8th! We will be sure to bring you all the results so check back here at BollySpice right after the show!
