After an exhilirating time at the BAFTA (The British Academy Of Film and Television Arts) awards on Sunday evening where he hobnobbed with Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke and Harvey Weinstein, Anil Kapoor took off for Paris on Monday night with his wife Sunita for what qualifies as a second honeymoon.Getting uncharacteristically romantic and nostalgic, the actor, who, normally, looks into the future, suddenly journeyed back to his courtship days. He says, “Not too many people know this. But, during our days as students, Sunita and I had gone to Nice in France with a bunch of friends.” There, their love really blossomed.
Blushes Anil, “Those were the days. We had no money. I remember that I had 10-15 francs in my pocket and I wanted to show Sunita the entire city (smiles). We would have a full-fledged breakfast in the hotel and I would stuff the bread from the hotel in my pocket to eat later for lunch.” Anil had vowed he would take Sunita back to France one day and give her the royal treatment.
Says the actor, “We are taking a train from London to Paris. This is very romantic. It is a rare holiday for us, just the two of us. Though Paris is Sonam’s favourite city, she couldn't accompany us because she is shooting. And, in a way, I am glad,” grins Anil who has just spent an evening hobnobbing with the who’s who of Hollywood at BAFTA. Declares Anil, “I shook hands with and congratulated Katheryn Bigelow the minute she got the best director award. It was such a glorious moment for her. Everyone thought that James Cameron would get it for Avatar.”
Anil also got to spend a lot of time with his friend, Mickey Rourke. The two bonded during Anil’s stint for the Oscar promotion of Slumdog Millionaire in Los Angeles. But Anil completely rubbishes reports in a section of the Mumbai press about collaborating with Rourke. “There is absolutely no truth to this. Why should I collaborate with Mickey or any other Hollywood actor? I want our cinema and actors to be accepted in the West on our own terms.” Anil also got to meet and spend time with superstar Matt Damon. “In fact,” says Anil, excitedly, “Matt and I were on the same table and spent a lot of time discussing cinema. Of course, he has seen Slumdog. It is astonishing how much Matt knew about Indian cinema.”
The other actor Anil hugely enjoyed fraternizing with is Christopher Waltz who won the 'best supporting actor' award for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Busterds. Mentions Anil, “I loved Christopher’s speech. He said if there was no Quentin, no Brad Pitt, no co-actors and technicians, he wouldn’t be there. I have always believed in that work ethic. Filmmaking is a team effort and an actor is just a part of that team.”
Last year, Anil existed at BAFTA for Slumdog Millionaire. This year, he was just an observer. But he has no regrets. He utters, “It was great fun being at the BAFTA awards for the second time in a row. I was asked on the red carpet how different it felt this time. To me, it didn’t feel any different.” Incidentally, Anil’s wife did not accompany him to the BAFTA function. Anil went with a friend, thereby confirming the belief that Mrs. Kapoor likes to stay away from her husband’s career.
