Tom Cruise and Anil Kapoor have been bonding `big time`

Mumbai: After his recent visit to India, Tom Cruise has become a really close friend of Anil Kapoor.

Says Kapoor: "I have a very small cameo in `MI4`. In fact it is the smallest role of my career. But what I`ve achieved is more than a role. I`ve made a friend. Tom and I have a lot in common." He admits the two are much closer now than they were during the making of "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", so much so that Cruise persuaded Kapoor to accompany him to the Dubai premiere of the film. The two flew out together on Cruise`s private jet. "And as we spoke during his visit to India and then when we flew together in his jet to Dubai, we realised we started our careers in the same way. He told me about how he got his first film, "Taps". I told him about my beginnings," the Bollywood actor said. "I told him how as a child I stole from my mother`s gulag (piggybank) to see films...He said he too ran away from home to watch films but not with stolen money. He sold newspapers to make money. So I joked with him that he started earning young while I started as a thief," he says. "Yes, we`ve been bonding big time. I even made him say `jhakaas` on the red-carpet. And he said it effortlessly," says Kapoor. After his Indian lap of "MI4" promotion was over, Cruise persuaded Kapoor to go for the Dubai premiere. "I went to Dubai because he wanted me to. Tom had a blast in Mumbai." There is talk of the two teaming together for a Bollywood film, to which Kapoor says: "Right now, we`re just...cruising. The possibilities are immense. India has the second-largest population in the world. Indian cinema and Bollywood have a global impact." "And I seriously feel our stars like Shah Rukh, Aamir, Ranbir have the potential to become global names. But they are not hankering for Hollywood. Even I am not looking westwards for my success. I am happy to be an Indian actor." The next step in Kapoor`s global plans is to seriously do an adaptation of the series "24" for Indian television. "We`ve bought the rights. Every episode of the original would be done faithfully for Indian television with me playing the protagonist... And there`s plenty to be done at this stage of my career. I`ve undertaken a journey into the unknown. I can`t wait to see where I go from here," he said. IANS