Anil Kapoor is to play the lead role in the Indian remake of US hit counter-terrorism series 24.
Anil Kapoor’s character will mirror that of Jack Bauer, the role made famous by Kiefer Sutherland.
The actor, who played the quiz show host in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, is producing the shows set in Mumbai.
“I am not playing it safe, I am playing the lead,” he said.
“I’m a movie star.”
Anil Kapoor is to play the lead role in the Indian remake of US hit counter-terrorism series 24
Anil Kapoor, who has starred in more than 100 Bollywood films in the past three decades, also featured in the American 24 series playing Middle Eastern leader Omar Hassan.
“I have stuck my neck out,” Anil Kapoor told Reuters about the remake, produced by his company Anil Kapoor Film.
Director Abhinay Deo said: “We are giving them their star that they love and we are giving them subject matter which is close to them. Where can this go wrong?”
The original series started in 2001 and spanned 192 episodes over nine years.
The main set of the counter-terrorism unit is a replica of the one in the US series, according to show producers.
“My audience is the masses – the Hindi heartland, they haven’t seen this, for them it’ll be a novelty and something new,” said Raj Nayak, chief executive officer of the Colors channel, which will air the series later this year.
Indian actor Dara Singh has died in Mumbai after a long illness, his doctors say.
The 83-year-old wrestler-turned-actor had been admitted to hospital last week after a heart attack.
Dara Singh was taken home on Wednesday night after doctors said he had little chance of recovery and that there had been significant damage to his brain.
Dara Singh, who won the world wrestling championship in 1960, acted in several Bollywood films and television serials.
He gained huge popularity while playing Hanuman, the monkey god, in the television adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
He was also a member of parliament from 2003 to 2009 when he was appointed to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament.
Indian actor Dara Singh has died in Mumbai after a long illness
Dara Singh’s doctor said he passed away “peacefully” at 07:30 a.m.
His films included King Kong, Faulad, Kal Ho Naa Ho and he was last seen in the 2007 hit, Jab We Met.
Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in for the much-loved Dara Singh.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his sadness at Dara Singh’s death and described him as a “noted film personality and an internationally acclaimed wrestler”.
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Dara Singh,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said in a statement.
“Dara Singh will always have a special place in our heart for his immense contribution to the Indian film industry in various capacities, as an actor, director and producer,” she added.
The micro-blogging site Twitter has seen tributes pouring in from Bollywood personalities and fans.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, with whom Dara Singh acted in the 1985 action film Mard, described him as “a great Indian and one of the finest humans”.
“Dara Singh passed away this morning. A great Indian and one of the finest humans… An entire era of his celebrated presence gone,” Amitabh Bachchan wrote on the micro-blogging site, Twitter.
His son, actor Abhishek Bachchan, tweeted: “The most gentle and kind man. Really looked up to him. Will miss him.”
“When childhood heroes die the world looks desolate,” veteran director Mahesh Bhatt tweeted.
