Flexcia Dsouza (BOMBAY TIMES; November 30, 2018)

Grooving to Goan beats on the red carpet, crooning to Hindi songs at the session — the evergreen, ever-popular Anil Kapoor showed at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on Tuesday that age is just a number.

Speaking his heart out at a masterclass moderated by his younger daughter Rhea, a Bollywood producer and fashion stylist, Anil spoke about how he was delusional about his looks when he was trying to get a break but was sure about his career choices from the beginning. And this, before he took the microphone to sing Mohd Rafi’s Mujhe Mat Roko, Kishore Kumar’s Zindagi Ki Yahi Reet Hai and Kaante Nahin Kat Te from his superhit 1987 film, Mr India!

THE JUNIOR SHASHI KAPOOR!
“From the time I came to my senses, I knew I wanted to be an actor. I had a friend in Class V or VI, whose father asked me whether I’d want to play a role of the young Shashi Kapoor, and I quickly replied — 100%. There was an audition and I went to the studio in Dadar, Mumbai, without taking my parents’ permission. I was selected for the role of the junior Shashi Kapoor. Since that day, I have constantly dreamt, worked on myself, worked on my craft and worked on being a people’s person. I’m still learning and understanding,” said Anil. As for his confidence, he thanks his sense of delusion about himself, since he was the skinny, hairy guy in Bollywood at a time when the industry was full of tall and handsome actors.

Rhea is the only one among his three children who is not an actor. “Because I was Anil Kapoor’s daughter, everyone thought ye toh heroine banegi. When I went to film and theatre school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But now that I am 30, I know what it feels like to actually want something. Back then I didn’t know. I remember meeting Ayan Mukerji and he said, ‘Come and work on my film’. The first day on the sets, and I knew I will never become an actor. I knew in my heart that I wanted to be in films, but not as an actor, and then production just happened. A lot of people don’t have that kind of access. I know how lucky I am to be Anil Kapoor’s daughter,” she says.

Anil also spoke about how Sonam came back from Singapore after university and joined Sanjay Leela Bhansali as she wanted to be a director. “But Bhansali saw the actress in her and he felt she had that kind of persona. I inherently knew that she had a certain spark which made her an actress. I didn’t want to say it because I didn’t want to push her. I wanted her to find it by herself. For me, it was fine that she does whatever makes her happy,” he added.

‘ACTING IS LIKE AN OCEAN’
The one thing that cinema has taught Anil is that there are no shortcuts. “Acting is like an ocean. We all need tools — our tools are physicality, intelligence, senses and how do you sharpen it? You have to constantly work on that. It can be music, dancing, miming. When I started out, I decided to learn singing. I could mouth-sing my songs. I am convinced that if you are a trained actor today, it becomes very easy for the director to mould you. You should try to do whatever that helps you. These days physicality and the looks are given too much importance and this may restrict you from learning the craft better. Focusing too much on looks may lead to stagnation. You have to travel, read, observe, take a break and do whatever helps you become a better actor. It’s an ongoing learning process. There is a shelf life in films and sports. But you should try to increase your shelf life as much as you can. You can do that by keeping yourself fit – mentally, physically and emotionally,” he said.

Rhea points out how she is bombarded with ‘gross’ messages by girls on social media, which includes questions like — How is your dad so hot? How does your dad look so good at this age? How is he so sexy? “When I became an actor, everyone thought I was good, but I didn’t have the looks. But now, everything is changing. I worked towards my physicality, because I needed the strength and energy to portray all characters. And in the process of building my stamina to work in front of the camera, I started looking after myself and started working out. I’ve always wanted to be in a marathon, I was never in for a 100 metre race. I didn’t want to be a big star for five-six years and then fade away. I’ve been in this business for 38 years now and I’ve worked hard throughout,” he said.