Anil Kapoor on 25 years of ‘Taal’: Magic happens when good artists come together

PTI, Sep 22, 2024, 5:38 PM IST

Mumbai: Veteran actor Anil Kapoor says he is fortunate to be associated with the cast and crew of “Taal”, which is set to be re-released in cinema halls on September 27 to mark its 25th anniversary.

Directed by Subhash Ghai, the musical romance drama also starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Akshaye Khanna.

“Taal” was released on August 13, 1999 and is still remembered for its soundtrack created by lyricist Anand Bakshi and composer AR Rahman.

The movie was a reunion for Kapoor and Ghai, who previously worked on titles such as “Meri Jung”, “Karma”, and “Ram Lakhan”.

“I’ve worked with him (Ghai) before and I’m very fortunate to have been working with him. Sometimes magic is created. The universe does it.

“When good technicians and artists like Rahman sahab and others come together, then magic happens,” Kapoor told PTI on the sidelines of a special screening of “Taal” on Saturday, organised by Radio Nasha.

Ghai, who also co-wrote, edited, and produced “Taal”, said he is happy that the film has also found an audience in the current generation.

“It’s been 25 years of ‘Taal’ and there was a time when we would make a film, we hoped the film would run in theatres for 25 weeks. When we made the film, we didn’t have any idea that it would be in theatres for that long time.

“What’s most thrilling is that the film connects with the younger generation as well. Today, when we make films we think it should run for two or four weeks or so,” he said.

The filmmaker credited producer Kumar Taurani for promoting the film far and wide, along with Rahman for giving a soulful soundtrack of the film.

“We wanted to make music that is immortal and divine, irrespective of whether it works or not. We wanted to make excellent music and he put his soul and talent into it,” he added.

Kapoor actor also said that the International Emmy Award nomination for the Indian version of “The Night Manager”, in which he stars as the antagonist Shelly Rungta, came as a surprise.

Also starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Sobhita Dhulipala, “The Night Manager” recently received a nomination in the drama series category at the 2024 International Emmy Awards. It is the only entry from India across 14 categories at the nominations.

Kapoor said he is looking forward to the upcoming awards ceremony in November in New York.

“I’m excited about it. It was unexpected. The show has received a lot of love and it feels great to have received this nomination.

“I believe one should just keep working hard, and your hard work always pays off, and in some or the other way you get the validation for it,” he added.