Johannesburg: Anil Kapoor, whose second Hollywood project ‘Mission Impossible- Ghost Protocol’ has just released, says he enjoyed every moment of playing a womaniser in the hit franchise.
Kapoor, 51, who shared the screen space with actors like Tom Cruise and Paula Patton, said he landed the part after a chance meeting with the Cruise. “I had met the producers of the film and met Tom Cruise, the star of the ‘Mission Impossible’ films and so I thought let me go and meet them and if I’m lucky I might get a part in this incredible franchise and then I forgot about it.
“Then one night I got this e-mail from my agent who said there was this offer from Mission Impossible -Ghost Protocol where I have to play a womanizer, and of course I jumped at it,” Kapoor said during a telephonic interview from Los Angeles. He said that his role in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire as a calculating quizmaster had made Hollywood look at him afresh.
“I think a few of the writers had seen Slumdog Millionaire before, so that and my work in the series 24 which I had done internationally made this role happen. I think I’m fortunate to break into Hollywood with this role as Brijnath, a telecom giant who loves throwing parties and having fun, but of course he also has a dark side and has a weakness for women.
“He thinks that he is very crafty but actually he gets quite loud and sometimes gets obnoxious,” Kapoor said.
Although the film was shot in Prague, Dubai, Mumbai, Vancouver, Los Angeles and other places but all Kapoor’s scenes were shot in Dubai and Vancouver.
“I make every role special even if anything special is not required and even if it a single scene by researching it and in this case there is a certain Indian billionaire and to a certain extent I have followed his mannerisms and so on,” he said.
Kapoor said there is also another Hollywood production that he would star in next year. On his special relationship with South Africa which includes having personally known all three presidents so far – Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, Kapoor said he loved the country for which Mbeki had appointed him Brand Ambassador a few years ago.
His world premiere for his production Gandhi My Father was held in South Africa three years ago, with Mbeki being guest of honour. “South Africa has a very special place in my heart and if I had my way I would shoot all my films there and come there every few months,” he said. (PTI)