Animal actor Anil Kapoor reminisces about his Telugu debut 'Vamsha Vruksham', nearly 45 years after its release

The Animal pre-release event held in Hyderabad on Monday, November 27, brimmed with celebration and fanfare and the internet cannot simply stop talking about it. With the core cast and crew of the upcoming Hindi film, including Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, a massive crowd gathered together to catch all the top celebs in person. 

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It helped their cause that Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu and filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli were in attendance to support team Animal ahead of the big release. Of course, the evening turned out to be special for the entire cast and crew but for senior actor Anil Kapoor, the occasion brought back memories of an extremely important checkpoint of his career. 

Not many would know that the 66-year-old actor made his debut as a leading man way back in 1980 with the Telugu film titled Vamsha Vrusksham, wherein he got the opportunity to work with actors of the stature of J. V. Somayajulu, Kanta Rao, Mukkamala and others. More importantly, Anil Kapoor worked under the guidance of the great filmmaker Bapu at a time when he was making inroads into the world of cinema, boasting only a single acting credit to his name at that point.

Despite the fact that a film like Vamsha Vruksham stems from a completely different culture and ethos, one could imagine a young Anil Kapoor lapping up the experience with glee. And quite evidently, the whole gig is still quite close to his heart as he returns to Telugu cinema (in not-so-direct ways) having marked a full circle as an actor.

Anil Kapoor would go on to work with Bapu on multiple Hindi films including Hum Paanch (1980), Woh Saat Din (1983) and Mohabbat (1985). Interestingly, the former's second lead role after Vamsha Vruksham came in 1982 in a Kannada film titled Pallavi Anu Pallavi, which also marked a certain Mr. Mani Ratnam's debut.

Fittingly, Anil Kapoor began his speech at the Animal event in Telugu and sprung a huge surprise on everyone around. "Andaru Bagunnara? Trailer choosara? Nacchinda?" (How is everyone? Did you watch the trailer? Did you like it?) he said before going on to reveal that it was the Telugu Film Industry that gave him the 'birth' as an actor.

"Malli ippudu vacche mee munduki - late ga vacchina, latest ga vaccha!" added Kapoor as he drew a huge cheer from the audience.

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Animal, on the other hand, is set to release in theatres on December 1. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Tripti Dimri, Shakti Kapoor and others.

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