Anil Kapoor known by his screen name Annu Kapoor, is an Indian film actor and television presenter best remembered for hosting the vocal reality show Antakshari from 1993 to 2006 and his role in Vicky Donor (2012). He received Filmfare award as well as National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Vicky Donor.
Annu Kapoor was born in Itwara, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on 20 February 1956, to Mad...Anil Kapoor known by his screen name Annu Kapoor, is an Indian film actor and television presenter best remembered for hosting the vocal reality show Antakshari from 1993 to 2006 and his role in Vicky Donor (2012). He received Filmfare award as well as National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Vicky Donor.
Annu Kapoor was born in Itwara, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on 20 February 1956, to Madanlal, a Punjabi father and Kamal, a Bengali mother. His father owned a travelling Parsi theatre company which performed in cities and towns, and his mother was a poet and a trained classical singer. His grandfather Dr Kripa Ram Kapoor was a doctor in the British Army and his great grandfather Lala Ganga Ram Kapoor, a revolutionary who was executed during the Indian freedom struggle.
Due to poor financial crisis, he had to quit school following secondary education. With a salary of 40, his mother worked as teacher. On his father's insistence, he joined his theatre company. Following a stint there, he joined National School of Drama in 1976, after his brother Ranjit Kapoor, who was already a student there insisted. After graduating from the National School Of Drama and a brief stint with its repertory company, in 1981, he played a 70-year-old man in the play Ek Ruka Hua Faisla in Bombay (now Mumbai). Film director Shyam Benegal who saw Kapoor perform, sent him a letter of appreciation and signed him for his 1983 film, Mandi.
Kapoor began his career as a stage actor in 1979 and was noticed in 1982's Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, directed by elder brother Ranjeet. Annu made his film debut in Mandi (directed by Shyam Benegal) in 1983. His career has spanned over 30 years, including Bollywood cinema, television serials and game shows. Kapoor is best remembered for hosting the singing show Antakshari The Great Challenge (later renamed Close-up Antakshari), produced by Zee TV. His performance as an obsessive-compulsive sperm-bank physician in 2012's Vicky Donor met with critical and popular acclaim. Annu Kapoor has also appeared in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2.
