It might seem a bit of a stretch to call two-time National Award-winning actor, Anil Kapoor ‘underrated’. Over the years, he has headlined so many massy superhit movies that the man is now an integral part of the country’s pop culture. But while we are still floored by his Jhakkas charm, both on and off the screen, maybe we don’t give him enough credit for his acting chops. That might be also because he is so effortless. Be it the toxic dad in Animal, or the strict Group Captain in Fighter or the uber-cool antagonist in The Night Manager, his performances are always impeccable, if often understated. He becomes each character with a casual ease in a way only he can. He is one of the rare few who is equally successful while playing the quintessential Bollywood hero as he is being part of a part of an ensemble cast—he makes each of his on-screen outings count. And that is not easy, especially given that the man has been acting for over 40 years now, his first outing as a leading man being in the 1983 film, Woh Saat Din. He ruled the box office as the ‘hero’ in the late ’80s and the ’90s with superhit movies like Mashaal (1984), Karma (1986), Mr. India (1987), Tezaab (1988), Ram Lakhan (1989), Beta (1991), etc. Beyond playing the massy hero and box office glory he also found critical acclaim for his turns in Parinda, Lamhe, Chameli Ki Shaadi, etc–movies that would later be considered as landmarks in Hindi cinema. But it is how he has continued to be relevant and upgraded himself with the times when cinema itself has gone through a tectonic shift, is truly awe-inspiring. And he has not confined himself just to Hindi cinema. Who can forget his turn as the game show host in Danny Boyle's acclaimed Academy Award-winning drama Slumdog Millionaire (2008)? He had also done brief but memorable role in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011). And he had also gotten into the long-format content by first starring in the eighth season of the American television series 24 (2010) and then headlining the Hindi adaptation of the show in 2013–long before the OTTs became a thing and every star jumped on the web series bandwagon.

Today, at 67, he is absolutely killing it. In the past two years, he has had films like Thar, Jug Jugg Jeeyo, Animal, and Fighter along with a webseries, The Night Manager. And he has recently turned a reality show host with Bigg Boss OTT Season 3. So, when he claims that he is here to run a marathon and not a sprint, he is definitely walking the talk! Excerpts from an exclusive chat: 

You had mentioned in one interview that you are not here for a 100-metre dash but for you this is a marathon. Can you elaborate this a bit?  

If you see the interviews I have done even 35/40 years back, you will find that I have always been very consistent. A few days back, I was going through some of those, and I was amazed how I had predicted what I would be! 

Whatever you aspire to be, whatever your dreams are, you have to put it out in the universe.  

I dreamt to have a marathon run in everything, be it in my career or in my marriage—Sunita and I are together for 50 years, and my career has spanned for about 45 years now.  For me, if I am undertaking a journey, it has to last—I am not here for a 100-metre dash but for a marathon! 

Indeed. Not only are you running a marathon, but you are looking great while at it. You look ageless! Apart from the vanity aspect, for an actor looking for ‘marathon career’ like yours, how crucial is the fitness journey? 

I think it's the most important part; you have to take care of yourself. As an actor, you are your own office, your own company, your own factory. And what is your instrument? It is your body. Your body is your team. Each part of your body--your hands, your legs, your face, your nose, your eyes--is a team member that you need to bank upon to get the job done. So, you have to take care of them. Fitness helps me to look after this team. 

How you walk, how you run, your physicality…these are crucial aspects of your job. Also, equally important is how you think, how your brain works—you need to ensure optimum mental health and for that you need to remain positive.  

In most other businesses, your physical presence at all times is not crucial for its day-to-day functioning—there are bits that can be handled by others. But an actor doesn’t have that option. No part of my job can be done by someone else. I need to be physically and mentally a 100 per cent there to give each shot. I have to take care of myself. I have to be fit to be in this profession. But it also helps me in my personal life. It is a Sunday morning, but before meeting you for this interview I have finished my workout. I am feeling good. I am well groomed, wearing my best clothes and shoes. People usually party on Saturday nights and chill on Sundays. I was very conscious that I had to speak to you in the morning, so I was not up till late and was mindful of what and how much I am consuming last night. It is important to give each part of the job equal importance. I am not taking this lightly at all. And to do all this, I need to be mentally and physically fit. 

How did you get to this kind of a disciplined life? 

It's not the question of discipline. I just enjoy it.  It destresses me. It gives me joy.  ‘Discipline’ sounds very boring.  ‘Disciplined hai’, ‘hardworking hai’, give out a very wrong notion. You have to enjoy what you do and then go for it. It's the quality, not the quantity.   

You are such a positive person, why did you agree to host Bigg Boss OTT 3 where the House is almost synonymous to chaos and rabid fights? 

I think that will make it more interesting and exciting. People will see a side of me that they have not seen till now! I think it is a very exciting project and it has come just at the right time. 

Talking about the ‘right time’, you have in fact always been ahead of your time. You had done movies like Lamhe, Woh Saat Din, Eeshwar, Saaheb before ‘content-driven’ cinema became a thing and you did 24, a long-format limited series that was aired in Colors TV way back in 2013, before web series became a thing and Bollywood stars started flocking to the OTTs… 

Eeshwar and Saaheb were hugely successful at the box office, Lamhe, Awaargi, and My Wife’s Murder were not. But strangely enough, OTTs have given many of these older movies a new life. Recently, I went to an event in Jaipur which was all about Lamhe and its songs!  

So, today, when not only content is getting priority over everything else and all kinds of cinema is reaching their audience—not only nationally but also internationally—thanks to the OTTs, do you think it is finally the right time for an actor like you?

I think I am very fortunate that I kept on getting opportunities which were ahead of times. And instead of getting scared, I was ready to fail. I was ready to take on those with the belief that even if they weren’t commercially successful, it will not get depressed over those. I think it was because I was not afraid of failing that I could do certain films that my contemporaries, or actors who were junior or senior to me, or were bigger stars at that time, shunned. Maybe it was not the right time for them, but for me it was—I grabbed each opportunity with both my hands. I dived right in and gave it my best shot.

Given yours is a family of film producers and you have faced the deep financial consequences of a debacle like Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, I find it very interesting when you say that you were not scared of box office failures… 

Because even at that time I had the same kind of positivity and it helped me overcome that kind of hardship and liabilities… that kind of huge emotional-cum-financial-cum-professional setback, and bounce back.  

Failures are inevitable, everything cannot succeed. You can't keep playing safe and getting scared and not do any work. That is a very dangerous approach. I don’t understand it when actors think that every film that they do will to work and they will only work with big directors to ensure that, or that they will not do a role that was written for someone else because there will be extra pressure…Why? The worst that can happen is that the movie will not work. So what? You will move on to the next thing. 

Indeed, you have always experimented with scripts. But with Bigg Boss OTT 3 there is hardly any script. How challenging is it to attempt the reality-TV format? 

That's the fun part of it! It is unscripted! In fact, I had done a docuseries with actor Jeremy Renner, with whom I had previously worked in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. The series was called Rennervations and it was completely unscripted. It was a lot of fun. Interestingly, I had shared bits and parts of that experience with the director of The Night Manager and based on that we did a few big scenes which–although people on the set had a rough idea about the goings on–had an unscripted feel to it. I love the unscripted format. I also do a lot of talks where I meet people and do spontaneous interactive sessions. When you have seen so much in your life you are armed with varied kinds of experiences and anecdotes. And you can relate to people’s experiences at some level. When I did Slumdog Millionaire where I was playing a reality show host, my character was identifying with the participant’s [Jamal Malik played by Dev Patel] experiences. So, it is not that I am going into it completely blank. I am able to relate to the participants on certain levels and that helps me steer the conversations. 

While hosting a show like this, you can’t hide behind a character but need to put out your raw self. But being a star is it possible to actually show your true self to the public?  

It depends, you know. There are times when you have to be open to all the things that are happening. And there are times you need to shut yourself completely. It is that decision of what to take and what to ignore which is crucial and you need to make that your strong point. You can’t take everything that happens to seriously and you can’t be frivolous all the time, it has to be a combination, a fine balance. And that is the fun of hosting Bigg Boss OTT 3. 

You have done movies, web series, fiction, non-fiction… as an actor, you seem to have done it all. Is there something left on your bucket list? 

I'm dying to do theatre. I was supposed to do it this year, but because of some prior commitments and a few backlogs, I had to postpone it. But I am definitely going to do it. I am 100 per cent sure of that. That's one thing I have on my bucket list.