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Ye desh hai superheroes ka

Mr India looks back on it all

Anil grins when he looks back at making the film. "The script was narrated to me by Javedsaab (writer Javed Akhtar). It was originally a script by Salim-Javed, but when they parted ways, this script came to Javed. At the time, we were doing a script with Mr Bapu, who directed Woh Saat Din, and when this script came to us, a lot was yet to be developed, but we loved the basic idea of the invisible man. We felt it was something new, something different."

"Boney (Kapoor, his producer big brother) and myself, I remember, were at my flat, and he pointed out that we were in our twenties. He said it was a huge film, but we could bounce back even if it was a disaster. So, we decided to take this gamble and go for it. We didn't have this kind of funding, but we decided to try it anyway. While walking down the steps of the apartment, we decided to make the film. But we decided we couldn't tell anyone that we didn't actually have all the money to make it. We thought we'd get it along the way, but it wasn't actually there when we agreed to make the film."

"In the meanwhile, Shekhar (Kapur, the director) had narrated the story of Masoom to Boney, who had liked the way it was narrated. Both of us felt he'd be the right person to direct this film, based on his narration. We felt he had the potential to be a big director. You can tell a lot about a person's vision, about whether he can or can't direct, from the way he narrates." Anil had worked with Kapur before in Joshilay, an over-the-top Western with Sunny Deol, and enjoyed himself immensely. "He is definitely one of the country's finest filmmakers," the actor declares.

Then came the casting. "Sridevi was Number One at the time, and I was coming up. I thought she was the only one who could pull it off. We needed an actress and a star, so we decided to sign Sridevi. Today, it's a classic, it's history. Today, when a film like Krrish releases and people start talking about Mr India once more, it makes me feel good."

What about invisibility? Wasn't Kapoor concerned about not appearing on screen for most of the film? "Well, being the son of a producer and being brought up in a background of cinema, I was always aware that a film is not one man's medium. It's teamwork. Once a film clicks, it's not about the length of the role, it's about the character and impact an actor can potentially have with the film. It never really bothered me, but from the day we started, I was sure it would be a huge blockbuster."

And then the wide smile returns. "But I sometimes used to pretend it bothered me so I would get more scenes," he laughs. "It never really bothered me, but I'd sometimes get a little greedy, and I used to make the director and writer feel a little guilty so they would add more scenes with me. That was the strategy," he reveals with a broad wink.

"Today, the trend is such that anything different will click. People want to see something different. But it has to have that kind of scale. It has to have stars. People need to be interested. That's the reason I think Alag failed. Nobody's seen it, which is unfortunate."

"Fantasy films, larger-than-life films, superheroes - you need big budgets for these films, and you need stars powerful enough to pull them off. Otherwise, why would people be interested?"

What about a Mr India sequel? Is Arun bhaiyya really coming back to the big screen? "I'm waiting for the right script, the right kind of an idea. Nobody's really come up to me yet with an idea I find really exciting. Once I really like an idea, I think we can go for it. We are open to ideas and, as a matter of fact, I am listening."

The actor's eyes gleam with excitement as he starts quizzing me on Superman Returns, and Kevin Spacey's portrayal of Lex Luthor.

Superheroes are definitely here to stay.