His career has spanned over 30 years, including Bollywood cinema, television serials and game shows. Annu made his film debut in Mandi, (directed by Shyam Benegal) in 1983. Kapoor began his career as a stage actor in 1979 and was noticed in 1984's Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, directed by Basu Chatterjee and written by elder brother Ranjeet. Subsequently he starred in many critically and commercially acclaimed films like Mr. For which he got his first nomination in the Filmfare Awards in the category of Best Performance in a Comic Role. He got his first breakthrough with Utsav (1984), in which he portrayed the role of Masseur.
After then, he appeared in many films such as Aadharshila (1982), Betaab (1983), Mandi (1983) and Khandar (1984). He made his screen debut with an uncredited role in Amitabh Bachchan starrer Kaala Patthar (1979). He changed his name from Anil Kapoor to Annu Kapoor to avoid confusion with the hero of the film Anil Kapoor, while acting in Tezaab. Annu remarried his first wife, Anupama (Pami), in 2008. Kapoor has four children (three sons- Kavan, Maahir and Evaan-and a daughter, Aradhita) from two marriages. Kapoor's younger brother, Nikhil, is a writer and lyricist. His elder brother, Ranjit, is a director and screenwriter and his sister, Seema, is a producer and actor. Kapoor's sister Seema Kapoor, was married to actor Om Puri. Kapoor has promoted India's positive aspects in his programmes. Film director Shyam Benegal who saw Kapoor perform, sent him a letter of appreciation and signed him for his 1983 film, Mandi. After graduating from the National School of Drama and a brief stint with its repertory company, in 1981, he played a 70-year-old man in the play Ek Ruka Hua Faisla in Bombay (now Mumbai). Following a stint there, he joined National School of Drama in 1976, after his brother Ranjit Kapoor, who was already a student there insisted. On his father's insistence, he joined his theatre company. With a salary of ₹ 40, his mother worked as a teacher. ĭue to poor financial circumstances, he had to quit school following secondary education. His grandfather Kripa Ram Kapoor was a doctor in the British Army and his great grandfather Lala Ganga Ram Kapoor, a revolutionary who was executed during the Indian freedom struggle. His father owned a travelling Parsi theatre company which performed in cities and towns, and his mother was a Urdu teacher and a trained classical singer. Annu Kapoor was born in Itwara, Bhopal, Bhopal State, on 20 February 1956, to Madanlal, a Punjabi father with roots in Peshawar and Kamal, a Bengali Brahmin mother.