Anil Kapoor: A film career on the ascendant

Kapoor believes that his performance in My Wife's Murder matches the intensity that he displayed in Woh Saat Din (1983) and Mashaal (1984). In fact, he does not shy from superlatives: "This is the best film of my career," he says.

Woh Saat Din was a milestone because it was his first endeavour in filmdom. He was cast along with Padmini Kolhapure and Naseeruddin Shah. Andar Baahar, Maashal and Shakti were major hits which pitted him with established stars such as Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Jackie Shroff. .Karma and Ram Laakhan gave Kapoor a chance to display his histrionic talents. However, Trimuti was a total flop. In 1989, Tezaab was released and he became a superstar overnight. Many of his hits paired him with actresses Sri Devi (Mr India, Lamhe, Laadla) and Madhuri Dixit (Tezaab, Ram Laakhan, Parinda, Kishan Kanaiya). 1942 A Love Story had Anil Kapoor in a very different role against Manisha Koirala.

Today Anil Kapoor is on the peak of his career. His major hits are Judaai, Viraasat and Dewaana Mastana. His performance in Viraasat fetched him the Videcon Screen Award in Best Actor Category. Despite competition from the likes of Akshaye Khanna and Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor has made a firm place for himself in the film industry.

In recent times, he has been busy with films such as Gandhi, My Father and No Entry. The former took him to South Africa where the film was shot. In fact, in Johannesburg he had the opportunity to meet popular political figure Nelson Mandela. The comedy No Entry features a star brigade that comprises Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol, Lara Dutta, Celina Jaitley and Bipasha Basu.

Clearly Kapoor's film career is on the ascendant.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent