“Kapoor is perfect as the television host!” That is the Variety. “Anil Kapoor is splendid as Prem, the TV show’s quizmaster,” goes the Telegraph, UK. “Anil Kapoor makes a memorably narcissistic and two-faced quiz host smiling disingenuously while trying to ensure the contestant loses.” says The Independent. After Kapoor won the West with Slumdog Millionaire, here is the latest news: Danny Boyle is planning a new thriller with him.

Sweet redemption indeed for an actor, who has been caught in the classic conflict between popular appeal and critical acclaim. Kapoor’s more recent films that have succeeded — Race, Welcome and No Entry — all tapped his comic talent and little else. So Slumdog Millionaire in which he sinks his teeth into the role of Prem Kumar the quizmaster has been a moment of reckoning.

The film remained in the North American Top 12 for four consecutive weekends despite being played in limited theatres. After the impressive number of awards and accolades, Fox Searchlight expanded its release to 500 theatres. Days before the Golden Globe Awards to which it is nominated in four categories, Kapoor says that although he thought the movie had its heart in the right place, he had not imagined that it would receive such international acclaim. “When you are in a film, you can’t gauge how it’s going to fare. I liked the story though. It’s a story the world can relate to — a love story with a happy ending. In fact, like Deewar it also has two brothers on the opposite sides of law. It’s almost a Dickensian story.”