Slumdog’s Anil Kapoor bids for TV stardom

Slumdog Millionaire's eight-Oscar haul has got Anil Kapoor (pictured with Danny Boyle) , the Bollywood star who plays the movie's oleaginous quizmaster, thinking about an alternative career. Egged on by two of the biggest names in the business, Sir David Frost and US talkshow giant Larry King, the 50-year old actor says he's considering taking up full-time TV presenting.

"I've been encouraged by Larry King and David Frost," he told the Independent. "Both said my television presenting skills were second-to-none. When such icons of the form give you a compliment like that you simply cannot ignore it. David said I could go on to be one of the great television hosts of our time so it is something I'm seriously looking into." He adds. "Perhaps I could front my own show here. I'll rule nothing out."

Although he's unlikely to supplant Chris Tarrant from the hot seat on ITV's real-life Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Kapoor, a man apparently incapable of selling himself short, could prove an exciting chat show host. However, he will have to temper his love of gossip. As reported here last week, he has been going around telling anyone who will listen that his Slumdog co-stars, Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, lovers in the film, have embarked on an off-screen romance.