Anil Kapoor is a prominent Indian film actor and producer.
He first won acclaim for his roles in Yash Chopra's drama Mashaal (1984) and Shekhar Kapur's sci-fi Mr. India (1987), and won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the former.
After a series of successful films, Kapoor earned his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in N. Chandra's Tezaab in 1988, and later for Indra Kumar's Beta in 1992. Since then, he has starred in a number of critical and commercial successes, including Virasat (1997), for which he won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance; Biwi No.1 (1999); Taal (1999), for which he won his second Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award; Pukar (2000), for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor; and No Entry (2005). Kapoor has thus established himself as one of the most successful and popular actors of Hindi cinema.
His first role in an international film was as Prem Kumar in Danny Boyle's Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominated Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which Kapoor won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and received a nomination for Best Ensemble at the Black Reel Awards of 2008.
Anil Kapoor was born on December 24, 1958, in a chawl in Tilak Nagar, Mumbai, India, to a film producer Surinder Kapoor and his wife Nirmal Kapoor. He attended Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School, Chembur.Coming from a film-oriented family, Kapoor's elder brother, Boney Kapoor, is a producer while younger brother Sanjay Kapoor is also a well known Bollywood actor, though not as successful.
In 1984, he married Sunita Kapoor and had two daughters and a son. Kapoor's elder daughter is the actress Sonam Kapoor. As of 2008, his other daughter, Rhea, is studying in New York while his son Harsh is still in school.
He is the brother-in-law of the actress Sridevi with whom he has starred in many films. His sister Reena is married to Sandeep Marwah of the Marwah Films and Video Studios.
Kapoor made his Bollywood debut with Umesh Mehra's Hamare Tumhare (1979) in a supporting role. After a few minor roles in films such as Hum Paanch (1980) and Shakti (1982), he got his first leading role in the 1983 Hindi film, Woh Saat Din. Kapoor later tried acting in Tollywood and Kollywood, and appeared in the Telugu film Vamsa Vriksham and Mani Ratnam's Kannada debut film Pallavi Anu Pallavi.
Next, followed a critically acclaimed performance in Yash Chopra's drama Mashaal (1984), for which he won his first Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. Going on to deliver commercial success with films like Meri Jung (1985) and Karma (1986), Kapoor won acclaim for his title role in Shekhar Kapur's sci-fi film Mr. India (1987). The film became one of his biggest box office hits and shot him to superstar status.
In 1988, he was rewarded with his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in the hit film, Tezaab. The following year he delivered more commercial success with Ram Lakhan, Parinda and Rakhwala.The year 1990, saw him play a dual role, as twin brothers in the successful Kishen Kanhaiya. Anil Kapoor won critical acclaim for his performance in Eeshwar, co-starring Vijaya Shanti. With these successes, Anil Kapoor was widely acknowledged as the industry's biggest star at the time. This was followed by a critically acclaimed performance as a middle aged man in Yash Chopra's romantic drama Lamhe. Although the film was a box office failure in India, it proved to be a success overseas.
In 1992, Kapoor received his second Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Indra Kumar's Beta opposite Madhuri Dixit. In 1993, Boney Kapoor's much delayed mega-budget Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja was a disaster at box office and damaged Anil Kapoor's reputation as the industry biggest star at the time. The only major success in these years was Laadla with Sridevi, a film also produced by Boney Kapoor.
After a period of little box office success, he had box office success with films like Judaai (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Biwi No.1 (1999), Loafer (1996), Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain (1999) and Taal (1999). He also won critical acclaim for his strong performance in Virasat, a remake of Tamil film in which Kamal Hasan had played Anil Kapoor's role.
He won his first National Film Award in the Best Actor category for his role in Rajkumar Santoshi's critically acclaimed Pukar in 2000. Following films from 2001 to 2004 failed to do well but Kapoor won acclaim for his role in the thriller My Wife's Murder (2005), which he also produced. Anees Bazmee's super-hit comedy No Entry followed for Kapoor that year. The film became the highest grossing film of the year and Kapoor's comic-timing was applauded.
Kapoor's most recent films, Anees Bazmee's Welcome, which released on December 21, 2007, did very well at the box office. His first 2008 release Abbas Mustan's thriller Race became a box office hit too. But Vijay Krishna Acharya's Tashan, which marked Anil's comeback to Yash Raj Films failed to do well at the box office. His most recent films were his first English-language film Slumdog Millionaire, which released on 12 November 2008, and Yuvvraaj, which released on 21 November 2008. Yuvvraaj, with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles, has failed to do well at the box office. On the other hand, Slumdog Millionaire has won a number of international awards and received rave reviews from critics across the globe, costing only US $15 million to produce, but pulling in more than $40 million in the first three months of opening. In January 2009, he attended the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony along with the team of Slumdog Millionaire, which won four Golden Globe Awards. Kapoor also received a nomination for Best Ensemble at the Black Reel Awards of 2008 and has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In 2002, Kapoor produced his first film, the comedy Badhaai Ho Badhaai, in which he also starred in, but the film failed to do well. Next followed, the critically acclaimed thriller My Wife's Murder (2005), which also didn't do well at the box office. His next produced film, Gandhi, My Father, which focuses on the relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal Gandhi released on August 3, 2007. Despite being acclaimed by critics and audiences, the film failed to do well.
Kapoor is currently producing the film, Shortcut - The Con Is On.
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