Anil Kapoor was born into the thick of show business. His father Surinder Kapoor was a film producer. He studied in Chembur and then attended St Xavier’s college. He made his film debut with a small role in Hamare Tumhare (1979). He got his first lead role in the Telugu film Vamsa Vruksham (1980) directed by Bapu. He also did a Kannada film with Mani Ratnam titled Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1984). He made his first splash in the Hindi film industry with Mashaal (1984). It won him the Filmfare Best Supporting actor award. His performance in N Chandra’s Tezaab (1988) won him the best actor award from Filmfare. He followed it up with Indra Kumar’s Beta (1992). Kapoor was a super star in the late eighties and nineties, delivering hits like Meri Jung (1985), Janbaaz (1986), Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986), Karma (1986), Mr India (1987), Ram Lakhan (1989), Eeshwar (1989), and Parinda (1990). He continued his golden touch in the next decade as well. He made a name for himself with films that were both critically and commercially acclaimed. Laadla (1994), Lamhe (1992), 1942:A love Story (1994), Beta (1992) were a few of his best films. He also suffered some setback in this decade with a few commercial failures. The mega budget film Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993) was a flop and so was Trimurti (1995). But the latter half of the nineties proved beneficial to Kapoor and he delivered hits like Loafer (1996), Judaai (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997) and Biwi No.1 (1999). His performance in Priyadarshan’s Virasat (1997) won him rave reviews. He stole the show in Subhash Ghai’s Taal (1999), where he played the hyper, zealous and over the top musician. Over the next decade he gave big money spinners like No Entry (2005), Welcome (2007), Race (2008) and Race 2 (2013). He also gave a very critically acclaimed performance in Pukar (2000).

He made his international debut in 2008 with Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (2008) which gave him global recognition. He also appeared in the series 24, in its eight season.

Kapoor turned producer with Badhai Ho Badhai (2007) and subsequently produced My Wife’s Murder (2005), Aisha (2010) and No Problem (2010). He also produced Gandhi My Father (2007) which won the National Award. Apart from that, he bought the rights for the international series 24 to be made in India. He produced it and also acted in it as the lead.

He recently appeared in Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Welcome Back (2015), a sequel to his super-hit of 2007.