For a film about an invisible man, a lot was at stake, quite visibly. Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has revealed that actor Anil Kapoor was extremely scared during the making of their iconic 1987 film Mr India, wondering if the movie would work at the box office.
Written by Salim-Javed, Mr India was produced by Boney Kapoor and Surinder Kapoor. It was the second film of Shekhar, who was coming off the humble 1983 drama Masoom.
In an interview with Ranveer Allahbadia, Shekhar Kapur said Anil Kapoor and Boney Kapoor were nervous before Mr India, considering they had put the entire family’s money to mount the superhero film–a first for its time back then.
“Anil Kapoor was scared the day the film began and also when it released. Woh darta bohot hai. Boney Kapoor and him were very scared, would wonder whether the film would work. ‘Humara saara paisa laga hua hai, puri family ka, khatam ho jayega.’ So that fear was there. There was no certainty if it would work,” he recalled.
The filmmaker said during the making of Mr India, he would have conversations with his 11-year-old self and use the “mini” him as a tester to see if a shot, a line would work with the kids or not. “I have never made a film where all the characters are not me. I was Mogambo, I was hawa-hawai as well, and Mr India and all the kids. How else will you make it?” he said.
Mr India also starred Sridevi and Amrish Puri, who played the film’s iconic villain Mogambo.
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