Aakansha Naval-Shetye (DNA; June 16, 2012)

If there’s one thing that actor Anil Kapoor has studiously avoided in his career spanning more than three decades, then it is being type-cast in any particular image. “Acting is all about reinventing yourself as an actor each time you face the camera,” says Anil, adding, “frivolous tags or titles are not something I dig.” However, with the current lot of back-to-back hardcore action films under his belt, right from his most recent release Tezz to Race 2 to Shootout At Wadala, it may be hard for the actor to avoid the action tag. In fact, point out that he is easily one of the original action heroes of Bollywood, what with several of his films having generous doses of raw action, and Anil waves it off with a smile. “Action, yes maybe! But for every Ram Lakhan there has been an Eeshwar and for every Tezaab there’s been a Mr India, so the balance has never tilted in favour of any one genre and I intend to keep it that way,” says the actor.

What Anil doesn’t deny however is that it’s a genre that he’s always enjoyed. “Having been a part of films with absolute raw action like hand-to-hand combats to the harness-and-chase kind of action films, and now seeing the rawness being reintroduced has been a rather thrilling journey, it’s been fun, but I don’t think action ever overshadowed me as an actor. Also I think I put the commas in the right places by doing films in all genres and each time the risk has been worth it,” smiles More >