Anil Kapoor is on a high. The actor, who will be 62 this December, has two big films in the news. Fanney Khan, which releases this Friday, and Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga with daughter Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, for which he finished shooting on Sunday. Now Anil is on promotion drive. Giving interviews in which he bares his soul.

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Among the things that come up is Anil’s meteoric blast to superstardom after Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. He was a director’s actor before, but now Anil is a superstar. In interviews, he admits that it wasn’t his dream to become one. He just wanted to be an actor. He was lucky that his characters became so popular and iconic. But, given his celebrity status, the actor can still travel by autorickshaw when the traffic is too much or step outside his car and walk to his destination. “It all depends on whether you want to attract attention or don’t want to,” Anil is honest enough to admit.

Slumdog Millionaire and the American TV espionage and political thriller 24 turned Anil into one of the best-known Indian faces on the planet. Then there was Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol and Tom Cruise coming down to Mumbai as Anil’s guest. Explaining his newfound world fame, he had said then, “The whole thing is like getting an opportunity to learn so much. I feel like a newcomer. My daughter Sonam said, ‘You have a family, you have money, you have fame and the back-up of work at home, and here’s the opportunity to be there, to work with big players on a global stage. What more could anybody want?’ But I feel proud, being recognized anywhere in the world, that’s the most exciting part. Earlier when I travelled, it was only the Air-India crew that knew me. Now on any airline, even in China, they come for autographs and pictures. And I like that!”