When Anil Kapoor performed a dangerous stunt for the 1992 hit film Beta

Anil Kapoor has been active for over 40 years in the film industry. However, the veteran and versatile actor has witnessed several ups and downs in his vast career span. Towards the late 80s, after the success of films like Tezaab and Ram Lakhan, Anil Kapoor was touted as the next big star. However, in the next few years, Anil Kapoor had many big flops which put a question mark on his star status.

Anil Kapoor was insecure while shooting Beta with Madhuri-Indra Kumar duo

The same time period saw the rise of Madhuri Dixit, who rose to stardom with films like Dil, Saajan among others. Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit had worked together in many films until then. However, when the two collaborator on the 1992 film Beta, their security level and star status couldn’t be more different.

In an interview years later, Anil Kapoor admitted to being really insecure working with the team of Indra Kumar and Madhuri Dixit after the mega-success of their film Dil, which had released in 1990.  He said, “Their entire gait, and the air around them had changed after Dil. They had become really confident. So I became all the more desperate in my working process for Beta. I thought to myself, “I will do anything to ensure that Beta is a hit.”

Anil Kapoor decided to perform a stunt by himself

In the same zeal, Anil Kapoor ended up doing a dangerous stunt on his own, for a sequence in Beta. In the scene, Anil Kapoor’s character is tied to a giant ferris wheel and spun around. Although it was a wide shot, and Anil Kapoor’s face wasn’t clearly visible, Kapoor still decide to shoot the scene himself while opting for a stuntman. Kapoor recalled, “That was the first time I had seen Madhuri so angry. She scolded me for doing that scene, and told me, ‘Your face is not even visible.’

However, Kapoor also remembers feeling vindicated in his obsessive efforts months later when Beta hit the theatres and emerged as a bigger hit than Dil. Hence, at least from Anil Kapoor’s perspective, the zealous bout of efforts, stemming from huge insecurity, was worth it.