Anil Kapoor was born on 24 December 1956 in Chembur, Mumbai, to Nirmal Kapoor and film producer Surinder Kapoor. He has three siblings, elder brother, Boney Kapoor (film producer), younger brother, Sanjay Kapoor (actor) and sister Reena. He did his studies in Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School and St. Xavier's College. In 1984, he married Sunita Bhavnani Kapoor, a costume designer. They have 3 children, elder daughter Sonam Kapoor (born 1985) is an actress and their younger daughter Rhea Kapoor (born 1987) is a film producer and their son Harshvardhan Kapoor (born 1990) is also an actor.
He made his Hindi film debut with Umesh Mehra's Hamare Tumhare (1979). He made his debut in Telugu films with, Vamsa Vruksham (1980) directed by veteran Bapu. Pallavi Anu Pallavi in 1983 was his Kannada debut film.in 1984, he won his first Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for Yash Chopra's drama Mashaal (1984). His first playback song was the title track of the 1986 Bollywood comedy Chameli Ki Shaadi. Chandralekha (1997) was his Malayalam debut film. In 2002, he produced his first film, Badhaai Ho Badhaai, in which he also starred. His first English language film was, Slumdog Millionaire, released in 2008. In 2010 he made his debut in American TV series in the eight season of series 24. He made his Hollywood debut with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (released in December 2011).
In January 2013 he became the first Indian actor to be invited for a special segment; "In conversation", at the Toronto International Film Festival, an honor which is reserved for actors having a considerable body of work. He had one full album, "Welcome" as a co-signer with Salma Agha in 1986.