ANIL KAPOOR GOING MAD TO BE GOOD – ANIL KAPOOR’S GOAL

By Ali Peter John

There are different ways of going mad; there is the most common way in which the mind stops working in the right direction and drives a man mad and makes people make fun of him and little children throw stones at him.
Then there is what is known as the madness which comes out of one’s love for God and submitting and surrendering oneself to God and having nothing to do with the materialistic ways of the world.
And there is the madness of some of the most original creative artists, poets, painters and philosophers, these mad men forget what they are and build a world of their own where they live according to rules created by themselves, men like Van Gogh who cut off his ear while he was painting a master piece and a man like Ernest Hemingway who went mad and drank himself to death while writing some of his greatest works…
It is a blend of all these kinds of “madnesses” with which Anil Kapoor was born, the kind of madness which kept growing and has reached a point of no return now, the madness to be known as one of the best actors in the world…
There is a story Subhash Ghai tells me about the madness in Anil. Subhash was invited as the judge to have a look at some of the acting students trained by Professor Roshan Taneja (who also trained Subhash Ghai as an actor once).It was Anil Kapoor’s turn and what he did after he came on stage was something that left people in the audience and his friends, teachers and others baffled. He swung into action, changed the entire setting, shifted all the lights and only kept shouting, “I am a great actor, I am a good actor, and I will always be a great actor”…
Many felt the young man had gone berserk because he always took himself very seriously as an actor even in his every day classes. They even said if there was one boy who would never make it as an actor, it was this boy, Anil Kapoor…
But, the only man who saw some strange method in his madness was Subhash Ghai. He could not forget this boy and when Anil came out as a student and started his struggle with some small films it was Subhash Ghai who thought about him and first cast him in “Meri Jung” and found how good Anil was and that was the beginning of a great combination between Anil and Subhash who have made films like “Ram Lakhan” “Karma”, “Taal”, “Black & White”, and “Yuvvraj”, all of them major films and with Anil at his best as an actor…
The madness of Anil the actor caught the attention of another great director, Yash Chopra. He was getting used to making films with Amitabh Bachchan and needed a break. He planned a film called “Mashaal” and had so much faith in Anil that he pitted him against the living legend, Dilip Kumar in “Mashaal”. Anil lived up to his director’s expectations and the legend saw in Anil the makings of a great actor which was just the kind of recognition Anil needed at that time, Yash then challenged both himself and Anil when they made “Lamhe” and whoever has seen the film then and are still seeing it on different channels can see what a great performance Anil has come up with in “Lamhe” which Yash considered to be the best film he had made..
Then there was Shekhar Kapur who agreed to make “Mr. India” only if he could get an actor like Anil Kapoor and the producer, Boney Kapoor gave him Anil and Sridevi and Shekhar could make “Mr. India”, a film which will always be a milestone in the career of “the mad actor”, better known as Anil Kapoor…
It was this same madness that Danny Boyle saw in Anil when he was looking for an Indian star to play a stellar role in “Slumdog Millionaire” and led another American director to cast him in a serial called “24”, a serial Anil was so carried away with that he is now producing the Hindi version of it with him in a major role and making his debut on the small screen…
Anil continues to be “the mad actor” looking for roles that can drive him “more and mad” and he is not accepting roles that don’t give him a chance to go mad while working on the roles offered to him. He is now in his early fifties and there is a long journey ahead and he knows he has to finally reach his destination which he knows he will not because mad actors like him don’t think of aims, ambitions, targets and destinations…
It is this almost unbelievable madness that has led him to reach all kinds of places. He is Anil Kapoor, one of the most talented actors we have, he has now made a name in Hollywood, he tried producing films and made a very meaningful film called “Gandhi, my father” and he is now all geared up to see how his first TV serial as a producer and lead actor fares and is accepted by the people who have a special place for him in their hearts. Who can stop a “mad actor” who has more sense and sensibility than some of the so called sensible and talented people who are seen in every office and corner of the industry, from Adarsh Nagar to Yari Road, to Juhu and right up to Pali Hill?….