Anil Kapoor grateful to Javed Akhtar for recommending him for ‘Shakti’

Mumbai, Oct 1
As his film “Shakti” clocked 42 in Hindi cinema, actor Anil Kapoor revealed that it was veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who recommended him for the “iconic film”.

Anil on Tuesday took to X, formerly called Twitter, where he shared a collage featuring stills from the film.

He wrote: “42 years of Shakti… Grateful to Javed Saab for recommending me for this iconic film.”

Anil then shared an anecdote from the shooting.

The star shared: “I was staying hours away in a remote hotel when Smita ji, with her incredible kindness, insisted I move closer and even offered me her room, making me feel like family.”

Released in 1982, “Shakti” is a crime drama film, directed by Ramesh Sippy and written by the Salim–Javed duo. The film also stars Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee Gulzar, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri. Anil had a special appearance in the movie.

“Shakti was notable for being the first and only film to feature veteran actors Kumar and Bachchan together on screen. Considered to be one of the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema, the movie was the highest grosser movie at box office of that year.

The film told the story of an honest policeman, who refuses to trade a captured gangster for his son Vijay's release after a ruthless gangster kidnaps him.

On the work front, Anil, who is the father of Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, was last seen in “Savi”, an action crime thriller film directed by Abhinay Deo. He will reportedly be seen in “War 2” headlined by Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR. The spy film also stars Kiara Advani.

The actor will also reportedly be seen in Alia Bhatt and Sharvari-starrer “Alpha”.