Anil Kapoor thrilled with response to ’24’

October 24, 2013 - 10:26 AM IST

It has finally happened. More than a decade after Amitabh Bachchan brought in a revolution to the world of television with 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', another Bollywood celebrity - Anil Kapoor - has managed to bring in a turnaround to the small screen. Three weeks and six episodes have gone by since the unveiling of '24' and if the response to the thrilling series is any indication, it is pretty much here to stay. In the process, those who had practically given up on television after dozens of 'saasbahu' sagas dominating the air time have finally something to cheer about.

'24' has been doing quite well and its scale and setting has won hearts too. Was the trigger point driven by the fact that you wanted to change the course of Indian television?
There wasn't anything like that in mind to change the course of Indian television. But yes, I knew that I was being the first ever mainstream leading actor to be actually stepping into television. I was confident about taking this initiative because I believed in the material, content and the people involved.

Anil Kapoor thrilled with response to ’24’

Those select few who have seen the international version of '24' with Kiefer Sutherland feel that the Indian version is just the same.
That is the entire idea of an adaptation, isn't it? We have kept the drama as close as possible to the original '24'; that is the backbone after all. However as you can see for yourself, the soul is totally Indian.

Director Abhinav Deo had made films like Game and Delhi Belly earlier. For him to seep into Indian emotions here, has he managed to meet your expectations?
As a matter of fact he has gone beyond my expectations. He has done a fantastic job. I had seen his ads and movies but the way he has approached '24' is something else. What made our job further easier was the great job that the original writers of '24' had done for us. Hats off to them for creating this show and making the job relatively much more comfortable for us.

You are also working on Anees Bazmee's Welcome Back. It must be fun to enact the part of 'Majnu' all over again, right?
Actually I have done just one scene so far and not yet started shooting again. I would do that immediately after I am through shooting the first season of '24'. After that I would start Rajkumar Santoshi's film on partition. It is based on the play 'Jis Lahore Nahin Dekhiya Who Jamiya Nahin'.

Meanwhile your daughter Sonam too is on a good ground with two back to back hits (Raanjhanaa, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag). You must be thrilled?
I was always thrilled with her; now the world seems to be thrilled with her (laughs). It is good to see trade and industry also so thrilled. We are not celebrating in an insane way though. There is so much to be done. At this moment, our focus is on Aditya Chopra's Bewakoofian (which has Sonam opposite Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead) that releases next year. She would also begin shooting for Khubsoorat next month.