My Wife and I Have Been Together for 42 Years: Anil Kapoor

Anil Kapoor says he has been blessed with a fantastic life partner who was first his best friend

Q. You have been with your wife for a long time. What are your views on marriage?
Anil Kapoor: I have been blessed to spend my life with my friend who became my girlfriend and then my wife.  So we are far from a dysfunctional marriage like my character in Dil Dhadakne Do (DDD). We have been together for 42 years or so. We must be doing something right. In a marriage, sense of humour is very important. Being able to laugh at each other and ourselves and being positive helps. We also work with each other’s strengths. There are things you can learn from your wife – from a woman’s perspective, which helps you look at the world differently. According to my friends – Javed Akhtar and Anupam Kher, I am what I am because of my wife. They joke sometimes, that “Sunita nahi hoti toh Anil raste pe hota.”

Q. Are you as patriarchal as your character in DDD?
AK: I am completely opposite than my character. I am very friendly person. I am very democratic. Whole family is like that. Sunita tells me not to behave like my children’s friend all the time and that I should put down my foot sometimes but I am what I am. I am not dominating to my children. When they are taking advantage of me, Sunita is there to remind me. That’s what husbands and wives do. We are also learning with them as parents. I feel you should let them be, let them make mistakes, learn from it and if they are making glaring mistakes guide them but let them go out and do their thing. If I try to control much, they will rebel in these times. My character in the film is completely opposite from me. He is a patriarch, control freak and thinks he can get away with anything because he has power and money.

Q. What’s been the best phase of your career?
AK: I can’t remember any best or worst phase of my career. For me it is always about reinvention and experimenting. I am consistent, steady and feel fortunate to be a part of good films. I felt like taking a sabbatical after shooting Armaan and I did speak to Amitabhji about it.  He said he made the mistake of not working for some years and told me never to take a break. I respect him and I look up to him so I followed his advice. I love experimenting, reinventing right from the beginning of my career and going from one project to another.

Q. When you look back at your career of last the 38 years what makes you smile?
AK: My career has been consistent and steady. I am always on a high in life. I have taken too many risks, dangerous risks. People expect me to do tapori roles and I do Ishwar, Lamhe, Biwi No 1, Taal or do small cameos. I kept doing out of the box things. I do strong characters like in Taal, Slumdog Millionaire, No Entry or Welcome. I feel after a certain time, for longevity it is important to play strong roles. I have been fortunate that these offers come to me. Some roles take a physical toll on you. The TV series 24, Pukar and Nayak were physically challenging roles.