| MUMBAI:
He can't walk down the street in India, without getting mobbed. Now, with the
success of the film 'Slumdog Millionaire', Anil Kapoor is firmly in the
global spotlight. Kapoor is a Bollywood hero and the star of CNN series 'My
City My Life' airing in the first week of February. 
The 49-year-old actor plays the role of the Quizmaster in Danny Boyle's coming-of-age
drama about the Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. The film has
just scooped four top awards - including best picture and best director - at the
Golden Globes. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has earned ten nominations
at the 81st annual Academy Awards, including best picture, best director and best
adapted screenplay and has also been nominated for eleven BAFTA awards.
In
'My City My Life', Kapoor shows us "his" Mumbai, from Asia's
largest slum to the hang-outs of Bollywood's elite. Along the way Kapoor relays
his own 'rags-to-riches' story and how he's reaching his dream of being an international
movie star. Talking
about the spirit of Mumbai, Kapoor recalls a particular scene of his movie, Mr.
India, Bollywood’s science fiction superhero film where he playing the role
of a mentor of the orphan kids,has no money, no food to feed them but he is cheered
up by these kids who said, ‘don’t worry we will sleep without food’.
That scene very much shows the spirit of Mumbai and the spirit of these children,
in spite of not having anything to eat and no money - still they are full of life
and they have a lot of hope,” Kapoor added. On
his experience of working in Slumdog Millionaire and the film’s portrayal
of Mumbai, Kapoor expressed, “Slumdog is like my story, I also started from
scratch, from rags to riches, I started in Chembur (Mumbai suburb) and
I slowly climbed and god has been kind in that way.” He further added, “It's
a fairytale, basically a love story but shot in a very realistic way. The film
is not choreographed at all, it’s very natural and real, there is nothing
which is exaggerated or nothing which is downplayed. There is the other side of
Mumbai where the rich and the poor live comfortably and live with each other without
any problems.”
Sharing his thoughts on the changed sentiments of Mumbaikars and people of India
post the terrorist attacks, Kapoor said, “The recent terrorist attacks is
basically the third major thing which has happened in Mumbai. There are few incidents
which have taken place and this has shaken the country and all of us. We started
questioning ourselves, why weren't we ready enough? So we have to pull up our
socks and that is what the country, the city is doing, I can see that. People
are still angry, people are still upset, people are still insecure, people are
still scared, all these emotions are still there. You find everything normal but
internally there is a certain sense of insecurity definitely. I think this has
really united the whole country and united everybody in Mumbai and I'm sure we
are trying our best to ensure this doesn't happen again.”
To view past episodes and special features please visit www.cnn.com/mycitymylife
Airtime:
Indian Standard Time
Thursday, February 5th at 1500 hrs
Saturday,
February 7th at 1500 hrs, 2330 hrs
Sunday, February 8th at 2100 hrs
| 