Anil Kapoor's career debut was Pallavi Anu Pallavi, a Kannada film directed by Maniratnam. Kapoor made his Bollywood debut with Umesh Mehra's Hamare Tumhare (1979) in a supporting role. After a few minor roles in films such as Hum Paanch (1980) and Shakti (1982), he got his first leading role in the 1983 Hindi film, Woh Saat Din. Kapoor later tried acting in Tollywood and Kollywood, and appeared in the Telugu film Vamsa Vriksham and Mani Ratnam's Kannada debut film Pallavi Anu Pallavi (released in 1983, his first movie in leading role).
Next, followed a critically acclaimed performance in Yash Chopra's drama Mashaal (1984), for which he won his first Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. Going on to deliver commercial success with films like Meri Jung (1985) and Karma (1986), Kapoor won acclaim for his title role in Shekhar Kapur's sci-fi film Mr. India (1987). The film became one of his biggest box office hits and shot him to superstar status.
In 1988, he was rewarded with his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in the hit film, Tezaab. The following year he delivered more commercial success with Ram Lakhan, Parinda and Rakhwala. The year 1990 saw him play a dual role, as twin brothers in the successful Kishen Kanhaiya. Anil Kapoor won critical acclaim for his performance in Eeshwar, co-starring Vijaya Shanti. With these successes, Anil Kapoor was widely acknowledged as the industry's biggest star at the time. This was followed by a critically acclaimed performance as a middle aged man in Yash Chopra's romantic drama Lamhe. It was probably the only film in his career in which he appeared without a moustache. Although the film was a box office failure in India, it proved to be a success overseas.
In 1992, Kapoor received his second Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Indra Kumar's Beta opposite Madhuri Dixit. In 1993, Boney Kapoor's much delayed mega-budget Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja was a disaster at the box office and damaged Anil Kapoor's reputation as the industry's biggest star at the time. The only major success in these years was Laadla with Sridevi, a film produced by Nitin Manmohan. Anil kapoor gave a splendid performance as a simpleton lover in the hit musical 1942: A Love Story. After a period of few box office success, he had box office success with films like Loafer (1996), Judaai (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Biwi No.1 (1999), Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain (1999) and Taal (1999). He also won critical acclaim for his strong performance in Virasat, a remake of Tamil film Thevar Magan (1992), in which Kamal Hassan had played Anil Kapoor's role.
He won his first National Film Award in the Best Actor category for his role in Rajkumar Santoshi's critically acclaimed Pukar in 2000. Anil, again tasted commercial success with Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai in 2000. He delivered a powerhouse performance in Shanker's Nayak which is considered to be his best performance by many. Following films from 2001 to 2004 failed to do well but Kapoor won acclaim for his role in the thriller My Wife's Murder (2005), which he also produced. Anees Bazmee's super-hit comedy No Entry for Kapoor that year. The film became the highest grossing film of the year and Kapoor's comic-timing was applauded.
Kapoor's most recent films, Anees Bazmee's Welcome, which was released on 21 December 2007 and did very well at the box office. His performance in Subhash Ghai's Black and White was highly lauded. His first 2008 release Abbas Mustan's thriller Race became a box office hit. But Vijay Krishna Acharya's Tashan, which marked Anil's comeback to Yash Raj Films failed to do well at the box office. His most recent films were his first English-language film Slumdog Millionaire, which was released on 12 November 2008, and Yuvvraaj, which was released on 21 November 2008. Yuvvraaj, with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles, failed to do well at the box office. On the other hand, Slumdog Millionaire has won a number of international awards and received rave reviews from critics across the globe, costing only US $15 million to produce, but pulling in more than $352 million worldwide. In January 2009, he attended the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony along with the team of Slumdog Millionaire, which won four Golden Globe Awards. Kapoor also received a nomination for Best Ensemble at the Black Reel Awards of 2008 and has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In 2010, Kapoor starred in the eighth season of the award-winning action series 24, portraying Omar Hassan, President of the fictional Islamic Republic of Kamistan.
