Anil Kapoor hopes to bridge gap between Indian TV, films with `24`

Mumbai: Actor Anil Kapoor, who is bringing the Indian adaptation of award-winning American TV series "24" to the small screen, hopes his attempt bridges the gap between TV and films in the country.

Anil wants to bring in the same level of efficiency in the Indian version of "24" as the original. "But is that possible? I wonder," says Anil. "I had the privilege of observing the original team at work for eight months in Los Angeles. So I know what level of professionalism I need to exercise on `24`. Working on the original `24` was a great learning curve for me. I absorbed as much as I could. "Now I want to replicate whatever I saw them trying to achieve. The television industry in our country is still in its infancy. In the US, there are top actors who do television. Look at Keifer Sutherland or Ashton Kutcher. "In India, television stars don`t get the same recognition and money as movie stars. Hopefully after my show, the gap between Indian television and Bollywood would be bridged," he added. "24" is an American television series that started in 2001 and ran till 2010, with a total of 192 episodes. Anil featured in the eighth season of the show as Omar Hassan, president of the fictional Islamic Republic of Kamistan. Anil will start shooting for the Indian version in 2013. "I`ve set aside all my other work for 24. But it`s not a big sacrifice. I am giving it a year. That`s the time an average feature film takes. I`ve already planned my films after the first season of `24`. But for now, I`m fully into `24`. "I had to be all there with the team more for myself than for the team. Television is a new ballgame for me. The first season needs more careful nurturing. After the first season, the series would be on auto-pilot. We don`t know how many seasons we`ll do. Right now we`re focusing only on the first season," he said. While Anil plays the protagonist in the show, the casting of other roles has been left entirely upon the "24" team. "I know I am playing the protagonist. The rest of the cast, I`ve no idea of. And please, there`s no role for my daughter Sonam in `24`. At the media meet I was asked if I`d cast her in the show. The next thing I know there`s talk of her being in `24`. Blessedly I have a fine team. "Everyone knows his or her job, Rensil d`Silva who heads the team of writers, had his own film `Unglee` to write. But he never let that come in the way of his work on `24`," said Anil. IANS