Sixty is the New Sexy: Anil Kapoor steals the show in the second coming of Night Manager

• Kapoor’s performance as the all powerful arms dealer Shelly Rungta is about perfect paradoxes.
• Remakes are generally tough acts to follow, especially if the original’s cast toplines Tom Hiddleston.
• Kapoor was a part of another global series called 24 and played the lead character in its Hindi avatar too.
  

If you are not a 90s kid, then you probably need an introduction to pretty much every icon of that era – be it Sony’s Walkman, the original 007 Sean Connery, the supersonic Concorde aircraft, Mithun Chakraborty’s dance moves and even the item songs before they were called that. But the one 90s icon that needs no formal introduction is Anil – ‘My Name Is Lakhan’ – Kapoor. From serenading Madhuri Dixit in the iconic Dhak Dhak song in Beta in 1992, Kapoor’s joie de vivre makes him the rightful successor of the evergreen Jitendra, who was not only nicknamed the Jumping Jack after his high-octane energy but also endorsed vitality pills called 30 Plus for decades.

Kapoor’s performance in the Night Manager as the all powerful arms dealer Shelly Rungta is about perfect paradoxes – in one instant he charms birds or should we say birdies and in the next instant effortlessly kills with his bare hands (and a little help of a writing instrument) and yet there isn’t a spot of blood on his bespoke cream suit.

He pulls off the over the top scenes with the same conviction as he played the role of an autistic man in Eeshwar. When it comes to dialogue delivery and style, there is none that even comes close to Anil Kapoor. A paisa vasool moment in the mini series is when AK, in his laconic drawl, advises Aditya Roy Kapur, who essays the role of a soldier/hotel manager turned reluctant spy, to never know the real man behind the expensive suit.

Remakes are generally tough acts to follow, especially if the original’s cast toplines Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman, Hugh Laurie, Elizabeth Debicki and is directed by Oscar winner Susanne Bier. Attempting remakes of popular shows or movies is not for the faint hearted, look no further than last year’s epic disaster Lal Singh Chaddha – a remake of the iconic Tom Hanks-starrer Forrest Gump. But Anil Kapoor has managed to duck this trend not once but twice.

Kapoor was a part of another global series called 24 and played the lead character in its Hindi avatar too. Both mini series have enthralled audiences primarily because of the 66-year old actor, who still looks convincing as an eight-year old child’s father. Kapoor eases in viewers with his easygoing charm in the first part of the series, where he is mostly seen enjoying the high life with his arm candy Kaveri (Sobhita Dhulipala) in his yacht, private jets and mansions. He is the classic modern-day archetype of Ravan, who also lives in Lanka.

As the father of Rhea and Sonam Kapoor, much loved fashion icons, Anil Kapoor does not disappoint. In fact, he has his fashion chops in place alright with his bespoke suits and carefully crushed linen shirts. But there’s more to the concluding part of the mini series than Anil Kapoor’s sartorial style. Kapoor completely dominates the second part of the Hindi remake of the Night Manager with his menacing presence.

Kapoor dominates not just the screen. There’s something particularly appealing about the bad boys of spy thrillers, but he upstages Aditya Roy Kapur, who is the undercover agent Shaan Sengupta inside Shelly Rungta’s Golden Lanka. Kapur is the good guy who pretends to go rogue as he works with RAW agent Tillotama Shome to uncover Shelly’s unholy arms business that spreads from West Asia through Myanmar and Bangladesh. The second part of the series circles back to Dhaka, where it all began with the death of Safina, a minor girl trapped in a marriage with an underworld don.

The storytelling of the Hindi Night Manager is by and large straight out of the playbook of any spy thriller, barring some underwhelming performances. The tomfoolery by the two RAW agents are cringe-worthy and not binge worthy. The lean and mean avatar of Aditya Roy Kapur is welcome after his movie Gumraah. ARK fails to charm or impress with his revenge but Kapoor does both in equal measure as the villain. Give us bad boys any day.