Kapoor chats with Buzzine

His shoeprints were firmly embedded into the red carpet the other day. After a lengthy discussion with Buzzine at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles about the United States premiere of his production of Gandhi, My Father and his new role in Fox’s 24, Anil Kapoor brushed his hands through his perfectly puffed hair and took a few steps to his left to meet the next awe-struck member of the media.

Capitalizing on his newfound fame in Hollywood, Anil Kapoor seems to have a thing for red carpets and public appearances. After all, he managed to meet Buzzine on two red carpets and at one movie screening in less than 72 hours. When he arrived here at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California on April 25th to introduce American audiences to a slice of Indian pride and cinema, Kapoor had already rubbed elbows with Hollywood’s elite and was officially welcomed as the newest member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.

As nearly 400 guests attended a private screening of the second U.S. premiere of the Bollywood star’s production of Gandhi, My Father, Kapoor reflected upon his 30-year career. The 49-year-old Bollywood legend, who has been credited or associated with as many as 153 movies and/or series in Bollywood, told Buzzine, in an exclusive interview just after sunset on April 25th, he was quite worried about the tribute made to him at IFFLA coinciding with the launch of his acting career in Hollywood.

Kapoor at the Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles

“These retrospectives and honors and all these kinds of things are scary,” Kapoor humbly said, as he sat across from this writer in an intimate conference room atop the Marion Knott Studios at Chapman’s Dodge College. “You feel… Why?There is so much to do. One lifetime is not enough for your dreams to be fulfilled.”

Of course, Kapoor has done quite a bit in his lifetime. In addition to starring in more movies before age 50 than any Hollywood actor has ever done throughout their entire careers and producing three movies since 2002, playing the lovable villain in Slumdog Millionaire gave Kapoor a fresh start in his otherwise successful acting career.

“Then Slumdog happens to me,” he said, putting his tribute in perspective. “So you think, ‘Okay, fine. Let this retrospective happen. The timing could not be better, and here I am like a newcomer again.

“Very few people get this kind of opportunity. You spend 30 years of your life in a profession, in a country, and you establish yourself and there is a body of work. Suddenly, I come here, and there is just one film, and they look at you as a newcomer and a fresh soul.”

It was the Screen Actor’s Guild who went out of its way to make Kapoor feel as if he were a novice when the popular Hollywood labor union, representing on-screen talent, officially welcomed the Bollywood actor with open arms just prior to the American premiere of Gandhi, My Father on April 23rd. But Kapoor is okay with his body of work in Indian cinema being overlooked halfway around the globe in the world’s second-largest film industry. The movie veteran, who made his cinematic debut on Indian screens in 1979, felt the timing to venture into Hollywood was right.

“You don’t plan these things,” Kapoor candidly said. “It just happens. You just go on, trying to excel, trying to experiment, trying to think outside the box. You should be ready to fail. You should be ready to fall flat on your face. If you keep on playing safe in your life, I don’t think you are going to achieve greatness. You go into an area which is an unknown area. You work with people you don’t know, but you have an instinct that something is right about this and you go for it. When you go forward with that good intent — a positive intent — only then can bigger things happen to you.”

Hollywood Triumph - Kapoor lofts an Academy Award

Already an accomplished Indian actor who is trying to leave his mark in Hollywood, Kapoor now hopes “bigger things” will happen to him as a producer and an actor. He has already secured a role in the eighth season of Fox’s popular thriller-drama, 24, where Kapoor will play a Middle Eastern leader coming to the United States as part of a diplomatic convoy to improve political relations with the current presidential administration. Perhaps Kapoor will also venture into producing American films, as he has already financed three Indian movies since 2002. His most recent production, Gandhi, My Father, has personal meaning to the famed Bollywood actor.

“This movie is very near and dear to my heart,” Kapoor told Buzzine in the exclusive interview. “Most people know the story about Gandhi, the leader, but a lot of people don’t know about his personal life as a father. In a way, he failed as a father, but he gave us freedom. He sacrificed his family to give us freedom.”

With a Hindi version released in India in 2007, the English version of the film officially premiered in the United States at last week’s Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and screened again in front of a private audience at Marion Knott Studios. Directed by Feroz Abbas Khan and starring Akshaye Khanna, the Kapoor-produced film delves into the personal relationship between Mahatma Gandhi (played by Darshan Jariwala) and his son Harilal (played by Kumar). Kapoor stated he hoped the movie shed new light on the life of Mahatma Gandhi without taking away from his contributions to India and the world.

“After people watch this movie, they are going to have to make a decision between Gandhi and his son,” Kapoor said of the two-plus-hour movie. “Nobody really knows this story. In some places, people are aware, but not as much as they should be.”

Kapoor's latest production

It was a story Kapoor came across when he attended a playhouse in India to watch the stage production of Mahatma vs. Gandhi. While the character of the movie is different from the play, the Bollywood actor-turned-producer was captivated by the stage production and found it necessary to bring the factual story to the silver screen.

Also based upon the biographical sketch Harilal Gandhi: A Life, written by Chandulal B. Dalal, Gandhi, My Father pitted father against son in various film locations in South Africa and India.

“I saw the play and knew of the story,” Kapoor said. “I learned of the emotional state (of Harilal and the relationship with his parents) through letters exchanged between Kasturba and Harilal. The story is entirely factual, and the entire Gandhi family helped me bring this story to life.”

That story was finally brought to life in the United States almost two years after the Hindi version of Gandhi, My Father released in India. With each scene shot twice -– once in Hindi and again in English -– Kapoor was finally able to bring the English version of the film to the United States to make its Hollywood debut at the Indian Film Festival on April 23rd.

Kapoor’s only son, Harsh, is an aspiring screenwriter and currently attends Chapman University’s Dodge College.

Prior to producing Gandhi, My Father, Kapoor also made his producer debut in 2002 with the comedy Kadhaai Ho Badhaai and followed with a critically acclaimed thriller, My Wife’s Murder, in 2005.

Right now, Kapoor does not have any plans to produce an American project, yet he is definitely looking forward to making his American small screen debut on Fox in October. After all, Kapoor just wants to realize his dreams and be the best he can be.

“Do what makes you feel happy. When do something that makes you happy, I think you excel more.”