He’s the smarmy, conniving game show host in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, a regular bad guy. We’ve seen him in diverse roles but Anil Kapoor, with a glittering stud in one ear, rugged good looks and oozing Bollywood charisma, has a real life role as a good guy, as spokesperson for children who have received a raw deal in life.
The dashing Kapoor was recently in New York at Asia Society as ambassador for Plan India, a non-profit organization, part of the international Plan USA (www.planusa.org) which is active in several countries. Kapoor, who himself is from humble origins, has been involved with Plan India since five years because it’s very child-centric and addresses the need of children in urban slums and villages.
Talking of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, he said “It’s been a great ride, it’s been very fulfilling, enriching, educative, and spiritual and I’ve learned a lot from this whole thing and my belief in good intentions has become much stronger. It took me 20 or 30 years to realize the potential of good intentions and this film has done it.”
As ambassador for Plan India, he’s gone to villages and seen the harsh realities first hand. Working for underprivileged kids, Kapoor held a charity premiere for ‘Gandhi, My Father’ and more recently donated his salary plus his share of the profits from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ to Plan India. For Kapoor, working for underprivileged kids is an ongoing effort and he’s hundred percent sure he’ll continue to do it.
I asked him about his role in the Hollywood TV series ‘24’ and he said, “I’m just a beginner – I’m taking baby steps and at the moment to talk about it, it’s chota mooh, bari baat – it’s better my work speak, than I. They love me more because I love my work – I’m known for my commitment to my work, my honesty to my work.”
Kapoor is reputed to be one of the hardest working actors in Bollywood who really deserves the long overdue recognition. So is he going to abandon Bollywood now that Hollywood is calling? He says, ‘No, never – but it’s the same thing. I think we should now think globally. Whatever films we do in Bollywood should be seen all over the world and the whole world should be proud of Bollywood – and vice versa.”
