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Anil Kapoor's mean streak exposed!
The actor will play crooked cop in Anurag Kashyap's new film
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Subhash K Jha
If 2002 was the year of Bhagat Singhs in Hindi cinema, 2003 may be devoted to law enforcers. Films about the life and times of cops will flood the market next year.
Witness Shatrughan Sinha, Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Aan, Amitabh Bachchan and Om Puri in Govind Nihalani’s Dev, Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Akshaye Khanna in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Khaki, Ajay Devgan in Prakash Jha’s Gangajal and Abhishek Bachchan in Rohit Shetty’s Zameen.
It is time for another star to don khaki and play an authentic cop.
Anil Kapoor will play a cop with a difference in Anurag Kashyap's second feature film (Kashyap's controversial directorial debut, Paanch is yet to hit the screens).
While the other films portray the desi Dirty Harrys in positive light, Kapoor will play a loutish law enforcer.
"For the first time I am playing a completely negative role," he reveals.
Playing a bad guy is nothing new in Bollywood. Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar have done their bit in Yash Chopra's Darr and Abbas Mustan's Ajnabee respectively. Of course, the character's negative conduct was justified in the climax.
2002 saw Akshaye Khanna in Abbas-Mustan’s Humraaz and Ajay Devgan in Anees Bazmee’s Deewangee play authentic antagonists. Up next Fardeen Khan will feature as a vile psychopath in Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot. Apparently, Khan is developing cold feet about the audience's response to his new avatar.
Will Anil Kapoor seek a moral cop-out? "No way," laughs the versatile actor. "When I am in it, I am committed to go through the whole hog."
Like Paanch, Kashyap’s film with Kapoor hopes to tread the raw and realistic path. Though it has no songs or heroines, it is not a small-budget experiment. The estimated budget is around Rs 10 crores.
Like Paanch, this untitled venture will also be produced by Tutu Sharma, Padmini Kolhapure's husband.
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