Anil Kapoor on the Art of Staying Relevant: Lessons in Longevity, Leadership, and Reinvention From single-screen stardom to global acclaim, Anil Kapoor's journey reflects the discipline, humility, and curiosity every entrepreneur needs to survive changing times.

Anil Kapoor brought his signature charm to the stage at FICCI Frames 2025. The man's enthusiasm was contagious, despite his forty years in the field. He grinned and remarked, "My mind is like a child's." He said, "I get excited all the time, everything I do needs to be thrilling."

Most people consider it a success just to be able to continue working in show business. However, Kapoor has done more and changed along with it. His journey is similar to that of a founder who never stopped improving his product, from the days of single-screen theatres and legendary characters to the multiplex and OTT-driven world of today.

Adapting Before the Curve

"I started my career in the late '70s," Kapoor recalled. "The '80s was the time of single screens and the men who were larger than life, about energy, about swag, about songs. Of course, I gave my best. I did everything with my heart."

But what truly set him apart was foresight. Even during the high-octane '80s, Kapoor says he was "always conscious that there will be a change." When the multiplex wave came, "the scripts became much more detailed, the stories more humane," he added. "After playing larger-than-life characters, I became more real."

That awareness to see change before it becomes disruption is what keeps entrepreneurs alive in competitive ecosystems. For Kapoor, it was about staying curious. "I'm a good listener," he said. "I listen, I learn. I'm always curious to do something that will scare me or make me insecure. That keeps me young."

Preparation as a Superpower

Kapoor credits his work ethic and preparation for his sustained success. "Internationally, the value for time is very important," he noted while reflecting on his experiences working abroad on projects like Slumdog Millionaire and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. "You prepare hard, you train hard, and you fight easy. That's always been my motto."

He described his method of preparing for 24, the international TV adaptation he brought to India: "I used to sit with my dialect teacher and acting coach for five, six hours, then go to the mountain top and shout my lines. The fear and tension would go away, and I'd be relaxed when facing 300 people on set." The takeaway? Discipline is the quiet engine behind charisma. As Kapoor put it simply: "You have to be yourself. Don't fake it. Be honest to your truth."

Reinvention Through Fear

Few actors have embraced fear as willingly as Kapoor. "I got scared when I did AK vs AK because I was playing myself," he admitted. "People think I'm full of energy and excitement and I am but I work very hard for it." He also revealed that his upcoming Netflix project pushes him into unknown territory again. "I'm scared because it's something I've never done, a look I've never tried in my entire career. But that's what drives me."

Entrepreneurs, too, often find growth in discomfort. Kapoor's philosophy captures this truth, "I always look out for stories and filmmakers who will scare me. I might feel I can't pull it off, but that's what drives me to do my best."

Bridging Generations - With Humility

Kapoor sees himself as a bridge across eras. "I've been lucky to work with Dilip Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Ranveer Singh, and Ranbir Kapoor," he said. "I'm right in the center, between the larger-than-life era and the multiplex generation. I listen to all of them and learn how to navigate and perform with them."

Comparing acting to music, he added, "Dilip Kumar was like classical, Hrithik is rock, Ranbir and Ranveer are jazz and I'm right in between, listening to them all."

This willingness to collaborate and adapt, even after decades at the top, reveals a mindset every business leader can learn from, stay a student. "I didn't try to create waves," Kapoor reflected. "I constantly kept on surfing, learning, listening, and being a student in mind and child in heart."

Failure, Noise, and Moving Forward

For someone who's seen towering success, Kapoor is also intimately familiar with failure and the noise that follows. "Criticism does affect you," he admitted. "But I don't take success too hard either. It makes me more aggressive, more energetic. I don't take it negatively." His resilience is instructive. "It took me more than 45 years to learn how to block the noise," he shared. "There will always be opinions. You just have to work honestly. Success and failure are not in your hands."

In a world obsessed with instant virality and fleeting fame, Anil Kapoor's story reminds us that real success is a long game which is powered by humility, curiosity, and relentless preparation.