A Master Of Duality

Or, take his demeanour calm, deliberate… but with the hint of a smile and barely contained hyper-activity brimming just below the surface.

Lookign for more duality? Beyond the carefully-cultivated contradictions, is a man who is an ace diplomat, amaster fence sitter and a yours truly politically-correct persona unless it suits him to be otherwise. It is well known that Anil unflinchingly spreads the critcism and tactfully hogs the kudos. Only bouquets for him and brickbats for the rest.

So what is he expecting from David Dhawan’s latest offering, Gharwali Baharwali? Good things of course until the film flops. "This is an unique role and something I cannot do in ordinary life," he says. Anil plays a bigamist who goes one step further and lives with both his wives under the same roof. He disagrees that the story is identical to Saajan Chale Sasural.

"If that was the case, then every love story would be a copy of every other love story," he defends, rather unconvincingly.

He is equally unconvincing when he rhapsodises about David Dhawan and defends his senseless humor. "In fact, David is at his peak," he adds. What Anil likes about the Dhawan style is that he keeps actors on their toes.

"Earlier you had to wait for 100 feet of the film for alaugh. David provides a laugh a second, which is a challenge for an actor," he says. But ask him about Dhawan’s blue-eyed boy and he neatly skirts comparisions between Govinda and himself. "He has his style and I have my style…," he says, doing a neat side-step.

And moves from Gharwali Baharwali, to Pukaar the next film from the Kapoor stable, which is "on its last lap". Initial reports say that Anil has excelled himself and the movie promises to be another Virasat. Anil himself is elliptical about the whole movie. "All I’ll say is that the movie is close to my heart. When the time comes I will talk…" Pukaar has been shot mostly in Hyderabad, a city which has become Anil’s home away from home.

"My other homes are airport lobbies," he says. Hyderabad takes him away from the "hazards of Mumbai and all kinds of unforseen situations", which include getting mobbed by fans and producers. "Shooting elsewhere gives me the leverage to refuse," he adds. Not to mention that the Southern film industry is"work-oriented and more professional".

Work is something that means more to him than awards. Anil was not distraught that he failed to bag the deluge of awards that were expected to come his way after Virasat. "If I say I should have got more awards for Virasat, then I would be the greediest person on earth," he says.

And other than acting, Anil claims he is good at pleasing people. "But there are so many people to please that it gets difficult at times!" he adds. So far, Anil doesn’t seem to have failed at that though!

But is there anything he is bad at? Well, business, says Anil. A major reason why he does not assist his wife in her newly-found fitness business. "If I help her, the business will fold up…," he trails off with a shrug and a look heavenwards.

Anil’s elan vital comes from his fans and his well wishers. And from his adage: "Live and let live. Don’t run after money or success. Be sincere and fame and wealth will automatically follow you." He never stops thinking. His thoughts expandsoutwards in concentric circles from work to family to society to the world… "I keep wondering why this chaos is happening and what we can do to calm it down," says he. But he supports the nuclear tests and claims, paradoxically, that restraint comes from strength.

Of course, even the strong occasionally get snubbed. When Anil feels rejected, he simply converts his hurt into intense passion for acting. "I bury myself in my work and try to forget the pain. I move ahead onto my next hurt!" And next level of duality from which he keeps audiences second guessing as usual.