Dubai fans 'Welcome Back' Anil Kapoor, John Abraham

Tears flowed unchecked as one Bollywood fan gushed at seeing her idol, a brawny John Abraham, in the flesh.

Amidst numerous catcalls that left the actor blushing on stage and prompted Nana Patekar to confess how ‘jealous’ he was of the attention heaped on his ‘Welcome Back’ co-star, the fan frenzy that gripped this Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) outing underscored the power wielded by the elite of Indian cinema.

While some shared anecdotes of meeting the ‘Madras Cafe’ back in 1998 – when Abraham was a mere model and on the fast track to Bollywood – another narrated a tale of her husband’s loss at the Mr India pageant that eventually turned into the actor’s gain the same year as he bagged the coveted title.

Veteran actor Anil Kapoor, who was celebrating his fourth outing with the 11-year-old film festival, stated that along with Diff, his journey has also seen the city of Dubai “grow from strength to strength, which has ultimately led me to discover this place really is my home away from home.”

The three actors, who were in attendance with director-scriptwriter Anees Bazmee, producer Firoz Nadiadwala, actress Surveen Chawla and debutante Anikta Srivastava, were attending the Diff ‘In Conversation’ session while promoting their film ‘Welcome Back’, which has been extensively filmed across the UAE.

Director Bazmee further revealed he has filmed nearly 90 per cent of the gangster comedy in various parts of the UAE, including the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, which functions as Kapoor’s home, reminiscent of the actor’s similar spin in the Hollywood blockbuster, ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, which was also shot in Dubai.

In response to this, Patekar joked: “His ‘MI’ part was so big that while an uneducated man such as myself was busy reading the subtitles, Anil’s role had come and gone.”

While the audience erupted in peals of laughter, Kapoor promptly replied: “No role is big or small; only an actor is.”

The jokes and jibes continued the session over 45 minutes, with even Abraham catching the infectious mood and poking fun at himself when quizzed by a fan over the type of films he enjoyed acting in.

He replied: “My favourite film is ‘No Smoking’, one that has only ever been seen by my director and me. I remember during the shoot of the film, a production unit member had walked up to us telling my director he didn’t understand the scene we were filming. Well, that is exactly what happened with the whole movie when the audience saw it. No one knew what we were doing.”

As the camaraderie unspooled on stage, both Kapoor and Patekar, who have worked in the Indian film industry for 39 years and 42 years, respectively, stated that despite years of facing the camera, both shared a strong love for the industry they belong to.

Kapoor confessed: “After 39 years, people compliment me on how young I still look, but few see when I get from a chair or when I walk, it’s with aches, pains and a limp. The only thing that keeps an actor going is the passion for his work. I know my fans, the audience, are expecting something from me and that gives me my strength.”

Patekar, who has worked with Kapoor in ‘Parinda’ and ‘Welcome’, responded: “Anil works out two hours every day by the way. That is the secret to his energy. As actors, we sell our emotions for a living. It is only at night that we manage to find a corner to cry.

“As actors, we have certain responsibilities that need to be fulfilled. And our pains our different. We get limited time to really live our lives, so when the camera switches on, we forget our sorrows for the interim and simply play our parts.”
 

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